A recent conversation with my 18-year-old high school senior sets the stage perfectly for this month’s issue of North Dakota Living.
Me: “Hey, I bought you something for your car.”
Daughter: “Dad, if it is another thing to add to my winter survival kit, I might lose it. I hardly have room in the back of the car.”
Does your family send a Christmas letter? Perhaps a Christmas card with (if you’re lucky) all the children (and husband) smiling and looking at the camera?
I enjoy receiving the annual greetings from friends and family, near and far. Although I’d rather pick up the phone and call to see what’s new, I’m grateful for the end-of-year updates in our mailbox, because life is busy when you’re raising kids.
I’ve made it my practice to use this space in November to write about gratitude. It’s fitting, as we celebrate Thanksgiving and honor our military veterans this month.
Veterans can teach us a great deal about purpose, leadership, work ethic, community, cooperation, duty, integrity, honor, courage and much, much more.
At an early age, I was inspired by the veterans in my life. I remember my grandpa for his work ethic, his dedication to service and his respect toward others.
October is Co-op Month, which provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the cooperative model. It’s a trusted, proven way of doing business. It’s a tool for building resilient and inclusive communities. And it’s a story worth writing about, again and again.
In fact, amplifying the cooperative story has long been the charge of North Dakota Living. It’s been that way in every monthly issue for 70 years. We are proud to be the leading publication that connects our statewide cooperative network from east to west, north to south, and all places in-between.
I have a request for everyone who reads this month’s editorial: Please visit the Voices for Cooperative Power website, www.voicesforcooperativepower.com, and sign up today.
Why, you ask?
Seventy years. That is the duration of time the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives has produced this magazine.
My rough, back-of-the-napkin math indicates 829 issues – more than 12,000 eight-page sections of local pages, easily more than 100,000 total pages of content – delivered more than 82 million times to mailboxes over seven decades.
The interconnected electric grid in the United States is the largest, most complex machine in the world. More than 7,300 power generating plants. Nearly 200,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. Millions of miles of low-voltage power lines. Try to imagine the number of substations, transformers and, of course, utility workers required to meet the critical, 24/7 task of maintaining this incredible system.
It has been a winter for the record books, not that I care much for breaking records. But I said it before and I will say it again, THANK YOU to all who do their part to maintain roads, equipment and power lines, respond to emergencies and make it possible to feed people and animals.
My editorial this month comes to you as we hit the peak of the North Dakota legislative session, which happens every two years. It’s a busy time for leaders in state and local government, media and advocacy organizations. It’s also a critical time for North Dakota citizens to engage with their legislators on issues that matter to them.
Some bills certainly draw more attention than others. If you would indulge me for a moment, however, I want to direct your attention to some things that don’t draw the most attention: moments of consensus.
