8 I - O - t t J d oF
1 ü
BROOKINGS-HARBOR PILOT'S
Coos-Curry Electric Co-operative First
Served Patrons Electricity In Nov. 1940
The co-operative is m aking Its
paym ents on its 35-year loan reg-
u larly. P resen t indications are
th a t paym ents can be increased
beyond th e set am ount, retirin g
the loan sooner. Funds left over,
a fte r o p eartin g expenses are met
from revenue and are used to re-
duce th e debt. In effect, a por
tion of each pow er bill paid by
consum er-m em bers, rep resen ts a
p a rtia l inv estm en t by th a t con
su m er in the transm ission and dis-
ested if they knew pow er w as
available. T h ere are 13 saw m ills,
receiving pow er from th e co-op-
e ra tiv e at this tim e, w ith m ore
being added each m onth as addi-
tio n al pow er becom es available,
W he.,
c,,rnm unit) applies for
pt)Wer from the co-operative a
ju r v e y of the a rea s made. The
rim and ourpose of the co-opera
tiv e is to serve everyone w ithin
th e a re a desiripg service. H ow
ever, w here prospective consum
on lines and tH*u‘Pment of é is are located in p resen tly in ac
The co-operative as envisioned cesa ble areas, they m ust of ne
cessity w ait until feasibility s tu d
Laird end organized w ith the ies in dicate th a t the revenue from
such a reas will am ortize th e re-
In November, 1940, the community of Sitkum was
preparing for a celebration. The cause? Electricty was
coming to Sitkum on lines of the infant Coos Electric
Co-operative. And there were other celebrations in Coos
County that year as Fairview, McKinley, Lee, Gravel-
ford, Dora, Broadbent and Remote joined onto the co
operative s lines. For most of the communities, it marked
the first time th.it electric power of any sort was avail-
able. In a few, there were some privately-owned gener-
ators which supplied one home or perhaps the owner’s
nolllC and those or a tew neighbors.
S tkum . Rosabel Brow n, M url
I hose celebrations were due in a large part to efforts Leatherm an who was first secre-
ot Ivan Laird, recently re-elected president of the co zcns ha, ggruwn swiftlv but wel,
operative which now covers Coos and Curry counties
its impact has been felt in ev-
He saw the great need for electric power in his cornmun- ery “
ty nu ' ntcred
ity and realized what it would mean in better living for nevitabiy brings a uuriy of buy
himself and his neighbors. Thc number
~ , ume„ h. s ing by h om em akers who acquire
9
)
n o rth u n til th e trouble was ob transm ission line during the sum
tfioce of tne Coos-C urry E lectric
h te r a te d
m er of 1952. In addition, a con C o-operative in April, 1957. from
T he co -o p erativ e had consider tra c t has been approved for the
Lewistow n, Mont., w here he had
ab le difficulty w ith the transm is widening of the transm ission light
m anaged the F erg u s E lectric Co-
sion line u n til an autom atic switch of wav Then few outages will
vp e ra tive since its org an izatio n
a t th e s ta te line. Since the in resu lt from falling trees.
in 1938. He is the oldest m an ag e r
stallatio n on February 2, there
Teda.v a staff of
full tim e in point of service in this regon
a a s been only one outage and m p lo y te s is re q u ite d to n|»erate
Officers in addition to P resident
by ice h a d ng th e c o -o p e ra tiv e S a la i,.
.h a t w as
a s caused
c a u s e d oy
p.Ult
Ivan L aird are A. E. Sandho, of
.h ic h sagged t h e transm ission out of the co-operative's hinds Brookings, vice-president; David
line dow n into the distribution The onl> restriction on cniploy- Philpott o f Bandon, secretary -
u:e; th e line had to lie tak en rnent is th a t th e m a n a g e r wh, tre a su re r; d irecto rs are Pow ell
uUt of serv.ee u n til the ice was is h i r e d hv the cd-operative'i L ancaster of B ridge; F red Adams
HUI id of d ire c to rs , m ust la ap- of O phir; Ellis S hull of B road
emov ed.
By o b tain in g additional rig h t- p ro v e d b> th e REA.
l»ent; David Shaw , Gold Beach;
f-w ay, the d istrib u tio n line will
P r e s e n t m a n a g e r is B ru c e S h a Jack Dean of Bandon and C has.
e m o v td out from under th«* .e io who cam e Io the C oquille Brooks of P ort O rford.
One Must Be 'Sold' Before that 'Selling' Can Be Done!!
The co-operative built 35 miles
of of transm ission line last yea
from the C alifornia s ta te line to
Gold Bench; this lire has a ca-
pac ty of 10 000 KW or ten tim es
t h e am ount be.ng tra n sm itte d
over the line at present. The Bon
neville Pow er ad m in istratio n vvil
have ,h< public-ow ned tr;i > i •
sion 1 ne com pleted to Gold Lieach
in S eptem ber, 1952, at which tim e
the co-operative will he a 'i'e t<
fe< d from e ith e r the C a 'if »rnir-
O regon P ow er Co. on the south
north. In o th e r words, if th ere is
or from the Bonneville line on thi
tro u b le on any section of line,
. nly th a t section need het taken
out of service. F or instance, if
tro u b le occurred betw een G o Id
Beach and P o r t O rford, Gold
B each w ould lie fed from the
south and P ort O rford from the
au to m atic ranges, refr.g er; tors.
The job of getting the electric .'p re rs id from approx m ately 300
w ashing m achines, freezers th at
co-operative organized even on w hen th e Hnes w cre fi. st e n e r.
m ake th eir jobs easier. F arm e rs
p i ’ier m eant countless hours of gized in 1940, to m ore th an 3600
find electricity cu ts costs and la-
leg w ork and co ntacting for Mr as billed e a rlie r th is year.
bor. The co-operative itself ex
Laird. W hen he m ade up his m nd
Along w ith th e increase in size,
th a t the tim e had come for elec consum ers are us ng m ore pow er tends valu ab le services to its con
tricity to be available in his com individually. In 1941, an average sum ers. F arm e rs get consult; tion
ervice on pow er use from How
m unity, he sta rte d to work.
of 60 k ilo w att hours w as used ard C rinklaw , line superi: tend-
F irst, he co n tacted M ountain by each consum er. Today, th e fig ent, o r M anager B ruce Shavere.
la te Pow er Company and asked u re stan d s at 437, for farm , non “Hi-Lines," a m onthly m agazine
it 7» extend lines into Sitkum . farm and city subscribers.
tells m em bers w hat the r co-op
In th e w ords of Ivan L aird who ' erativ e is doing.
B efor? any com m itm ent w ould
lie m ade, he w as asked to m ake knew w hat it could m ean to c it
E conom ically, it helped com
a survey of com m unities all th e izens here, "W e found th e re was m unities N ew com ers w ere lnter-
w ay up the Coquille R iver to de no boundary for necessity" w hen
term in e how much pow er the area it cam e to power. Accordingly,
w hen o th e r com m unities organ-
w ould use.
L aird talk ed to every house- ized in th e co-operative asked for
holder and asked them to signify power, expansion followed. This,
th e m inim um am ount of electric- in 1944 becam e th e C oos-Curry
ity they though they w ould use E lectric C o-operative. W ar-tim e
each m o n t h should it become conditions ham p ered expansion,
available. E very household ex- and line-building. T he vicinity of
pressed a desire for g ettin g pow er P o rt O rford w aited u n til 1946 to
into his hom e and estim ates for g et Co-op service, and u ntil 1951
m onthly
usage
of electricity w hen B onneville’s Bandon sub-
ranged from $10 to $30 per mo. statio n w as energized, to get ade-
A rm ed w ith this inform ation, Mr. q u ate service. Brookings w as add
L aird w ent back to see the pow ed to th e grow ing list of cities
e r com pany only to have applica- utilizing th e co -operative’s pow-
tion denied on the grounds th a t e r about th e sam e d ate, w ith the
the p o ten tial load w as not heavy w holesale pow er purchased from
enough to ju stify th e ad d 'tio n al COPCO. Gold Beach, and O phir
lines S till determ ined th a t pow er are new er additions to th e sys-
should be brou g h t in somehow, 1 tern. J u s t com pleted 57 m iles of
L aird set out to find o th e r w ays line in C urry county. W ith the
to accom plish th e purpose. Re- exception of tw o area, Agness
calling th a t he had h eard th a t and Illahe, a rea coverage has been
th e governm ent would lend money achieved. No large applications
to co n stru ct pow er lines, he p u r- a re left in Coos and C u rry coun-
sued these tactics. L etters of in- ties except those of Agness and
quiry brought answ ers directin g Illahe. C o-operative lines now ex-
him to the sta te public service ten d to the O regon-C alifornia
comm ission at Salem , from th ere border.
to the O regon S ta te College ex-
In the discussion of sucha large
tension service and finally back organization, especially one re-1
to G eorge Jenkins, Coos County ceiving backing from the federal
agent.
governm ent, th e question of fl-
L aird cred its Jen k in s w ith in- nances n a tu ra lly en ters th e pic-
v aluable assistan ce in form ation tu re. One of th e stip u latio n s for
of th e electric co-operative. It o rg an izin g a n d continuing an
w as th ro u g h his effort th a t th e REA -financed co-op, is t h a t a
R ural E lectrificatio n A dm inistra- m em bership fee of $5 be paid by
tion w as contacted and investiga- each used of pow er from the c o - ,
tion by th a t agency’s rep resen ta- operative. W hen L aird w as or-
tive w as s ta rte d (W hen L aird be- ganizing the co-operative in 1939, ,
gan to apologize fo r the size of he found m any who could not
the loan asked of REA, th e rep- believe th a t $5 w as the only nec-i
re s en tativ e replied th a t he w as essay paym en to be m ade indi-
w orried it w as too sm all and w an t- vidually for th e precious power,
ed a la rg e r o rg an izatio n ). To- A few actu ally by-passed it be-
g e th e r L aird and REA personnel cause they th o u g h t it w as phony,
checked th e are a which would be
On th e o th er hand, some be-
served by the prospective Co-op, lieved th a t because it w as financ-
and found poten tially large, and ed by a governm ent loan, th e re ,
beyon th e ir evpectations, to jus- would be no need for repaym ent,
tify the form ing of a co-op.
C o-operative m em bers proudly
D airym en will be in terested in point out th a t the REA is strictly
the w ay a W ashington. D. C. rep- a paying institution. It g ets funds
resen tativ e estim ated the poten- from RFC paying '-i% in terest,
tial for th e proposed co-operative. These funds are lent to co-oper-
W ith L aird, he w as surveying th e atives for 2%. A dm inistration ex- |
population. L a i r d counted the penses of REA are paid out of
n um ber of farm s but noticed his th e 4 % m argin.
Though th ere w ere m any red
p a rtn e r counting the cows. Fin-
nally. he asked why and w as told. figures in th e early days of the
"Cows tell th e story for them . If co-operative, it is o p eratin g in
th ere are enough cows, the po , the black now. The Coos-Curry
E lectric C o-operative at present
te n tia l will come."
And the p o ten tial d i d come, rep resen ts a to tal inv estm en t of
The original Coos E lectric Co-op- $2,681.931..13 in d istrib u tio n and
era tiv e grew steadily accom pan- transm ission lines and equipm ent,
ied by increases in line to out- The consum er who uses the aver-
lying districts. Today, th e co-op- age of 309 kilo w att hours p er
H O T P O IN T —Ranges, refrigerators, automatic
e ra tiv e organized in 1939, has 570 m onth receives a bill for $9 44
and dryers, dishwashers atnd water heaters.
A
ra
te
reduction
w
as
put
into
ef
m iles of lines, 70 of which w ere
fect in February’. 1947-
added last year.
ADM IRAL—refrigerators, ranges and radios.
SOUTHWESTERN OREGON
.
£ * > (* ¥ *
AL UTA*
. F U R N IT U R E
changes a house to a home!
During our 514 Years Supplying the Home
needs of this area we hae seen tremend
ous growth. We anticipate equal, if not
greater, growth in the next five years.
We wish at this time to congratulate the
management of Brookings Plywood Cor
poration for selecting this area in which
to invest and build.
- I t has been our aim and policy to grow
— This continuous payroll is all this area
with the community. At all times we en
needed to tabilize its economy. May the
deavor to make available the largest
corporation prosper and grow is our wish
and best selections of home furnishings
to them, this together with our agricul
possible. To this end we have twice en
ture, dairying and tourist business gives
larged our store from the beginning.
a feeling of security and stability.
WE ARE PROUD TO BE ABLE TO OFFER YOU THESE FOLLOWING 'OUTSTANDING'
LINES OF HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT AND APPLIANCES:
Home Appliances:
Hendricks Furniture Company Served
Curry and Del Norte Counties 514 Years
The story behind Hendricks Furniture Company is
parallel to any of this area—with a small start, but now
the largest store of its kind in either Del Norte or Curry
counties, with a display of furniture which would he a
credit to a city of 10,000 or more. Archie P. Hendricks,
native of North Dakota, came to the Portland area as
a youth his the family, and for many years was connected
with Montgomery Ward Company, most of the time at
Portland branch store.
Mr. Hendricks came here in 1945, and in 1947,
gan w ith a stock about one-fourth the size he has on dis
play today. By good business practices and methods, he
has twice had to expand the store to care for the demand.
In addition to his effort! in the furniture business, he
serves his community as a member of the school board,
and is a past president of the Brookings Rotary club.
washers
Z E N IT H —W orld’s finest radios.
M ON A RCH —Ranges (electric, gas or wood).
ZEN ITH (Marshall-Wells)— Ranges, refrigerators, wa
ter heaters, freezers, washers.
AMz\NA—upright freezers.
ARVIN—Radios.
APEX—Washers.
Comfortable Furniture
BILTW ELL—upholstered furniture.
FLEXSTEEL— Upholstered furniture, tops in quality.
H A RM O N —Sofa Beds, rockers, Ixdrnom furniture.
M EN G EL—Top quality bedroom furniture.
SIM M ONS Beauty Rest Mattresses and I lidcabeds.
SEALY—Mattresses and sleeping lounges.
EN G LA N D ER Famous rublxr mass and foundations.
2O-year guarantee.
V IR TU E—Chrome dinettes.
V EA L—Maple dining room furniture, also walnut.
Floor Coverings
ARMSTRONG
base.
Quality inlaid linoleum, tile and felt
CO N G OLEUM NAIRN Inlaid linoleum a n d Gold
Seal rugs.
PABCO— Famous California originals in inlaid linoleum.
F IR T H —All wool carpets.
M AGEE—All wool carpets.
_
Hendricks Furniture Company
Curry and Del Norte't largest and M o/t Complete Furniture Store
Phone 2841, On Highway 101
BROOKINGS, OREGON