JUNE 2023
THE MESSENGER A Publication for North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Members
Future lineworkers
Director election ballots due by mail by June 16 North Arkansas Electric Cooperative is conducting the election for the open system-atlarge board of directors seat by mail. Members received an envelope from Survey & Ballot Systems at their mailing address on file in late May. The Minnesota company is handling the election and tabulation of votes on behalf of NAEC. Along with the ballot, the envelope included the 2022 Annual Report, candidate biography and a prepaid postage return envelope to mail the ballot to Survey & Ballot Systems. Ballots cannot be given to NAEC. They must be mailed to Survey & Ballot Systems and received by June 16 to be considered valid. Members on the nominating committee reviewed résumés of interested people and nominated Heather Knight Loftis of Mountain Home for the systemat-large position. No petitions were submitted by the April 21 deadline, so she is running unopposed. The 2023 Annual Meeting will entail only a business session at the co-op’s Salem headquarters at 10 a.m. June 20. Members will be able to watch the meeting live at naeci.com; a recording also will be posted to the website after the meeting.
NAEC’s Gary Tanner, line foreman, right, and Andy Ward, lead line technician, visit Highland Head Start students. The two demonstrated how a bucket truck works and shared information about being a lineworker.
Walling fills open Sharp County board seat The North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Board of Directors appointed Marc Walling of Grange to fill the remaining term of Jasper “Doc” Freeman of Poughkeepsie. It expires in June 2028. Freeman resigned in April after serving on the NAEC Board of Directors since 1967. He became a member of the co-op in 1950. Freeman also served on the board of directors for both Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation and ArWalling kansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. for many years. Walling previously served on NAEC’s nominating committee. He is principal at Cave City High School.
NAEC’s offices will be closed July 4 in observance of Independence Day. Personnel will be on call in the event of an outage. Please call 870-895-3221 to report.