AECC new officers – resolutions – Co-op service awards

AECC board elects new officers

The board of directors of Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC), the Little Rock-
based wholesale power supplier for Arkansas’ 17 electric distribution cooperatives, elected new
officers at the board’s December meeting. They are: chairman, Mark Cayce, general manager of
Ouachita Electric Cooperative; vice chairman, Mark Robbins, a director for Rich Mountain
Electric Cooperative; and secretary-treasurer, Rob Boaz, president and CEO for Carroll Electric
Cooperative.

 

 

 

 

 

Reasonable resolutions

Do most years speed past as resolutions made on Jan. 1 are forgotten? You are not alone.
Setting large, difficult goals and making strong initial progress that fades as the weeks go by
happens to everyone. Don’t worry; small changes can have big impacts and be easier to
maintain. Here are some reasonable resolutions to help you make healthy, positive changes.
If you want to eat better, but find you cannot adhere to a strict, restrictive diet, try making
more nutritious choices, one at a time, such as:
•  Add an extra serving of nutritiously prepared vegetables every day, like steamed or roasted
veggies as a side, salsa instead of butter on your baked potato or adding mushrooms to ground
beef.
•  Cut sugary and artificially sweetened soft drinks to only one each week. Don’t deny yourself.
Make it a special treat!
•  Replace sugary or refined snacks and breakfast foods with fruits, nuts and whole grains.
Examples are fresh fruit and nuts or nut butter; avocado and cheese on whole grain toast;
lightly sweetened granola in plain yogurt; and steel-cut oats with berries.
If you resolved to use the gym but you’re not going, find a way to make it engaging and hold
yourself accountable, such as:
•  Find a gym buddy. Go together for support and hold each other accountable to your
commitments.
•  Try a resolution accountability app, like Pact, which attaches monetary value to your
dedication.
•  Make working out more social with fitness social media apps or support groups on social
networks.
•  Make it more social in real life by joining fitness classes or searching Meetup.com for groups
that get together for fitness activities, both in the gym and outdoors.
•  If the gym truly isn’t for you, quit. Take a dance or self-defense class, riding lessons or
outdoor survival course. Do what moves you, literally and figuratively.
If you resolved to get organized, but find yourself still living in clutter, running late or not
getting enough sleep, tackle organization with small tasks like these:

•  Section by section, put things away, dust or disinfect. Do not allow yourself to re-clutter a
cleaned area. Invest in attractive storage solutions and clean one section each evening until you
finish every section.
•  Decide if you pick up an object, you must put it down in its rightful place.
•  Use your phone’s calendar to track every appointment and block off time. Set reminders to
provide enough time to get out the door and on the road. You can also use it to remind yourself
to go to bed early, give the dog its medication, bake cookies for a bake sale or spend a few
minutes tidying at the end of each day.
•  Say no to unnecessary or unimportant requests that stretch your time and patience, to which
you cannot give your full attention or that sound just plain terrible. Prioritize the people and
activities you care about most, including yourself.
Source: The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)

Co-op directors receive service awards

Four electric cooperative board members were recognized for their service at the Directors’
Conference of Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) and Arkansas Electric
Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI) in December in Little Rock.
Receiving the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas’ Pioneer Wall of Fame Award for 35 years of
service on their local electric co-op boards were: Billy Joe Bartholomew of Ozarks Electric
Cooperative, Fayetteville; Jerry Brown of Woodruff Electric Cooperative, Forrest City; and
George Tilley of Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative, Mena. Each began their board service in
1982.
Special recognition was given to Jasper “Doc” Freeman, a director for North Arkansas Electric
Cooperative in Salem, for his 50 years of service to the electric cooperative’s board of directors.
Since it was established in 2002, 70 board members from the state’s 17 electric distribution co-
ops have received the Pioneer Award. Honorees are presented a plaque and have their names
listed on a special Wall of Fame at the AECC/AECI headquarters in Little Rock.