West Central Electric Cooperative’s Tim Frerking hangs two of the 66 light pole banners at the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg. The banners feature photos, service information and messages from area veterans.
Service Beyond the Lines
Lineworkers from West Central Electric Cooperative helped bring a season of honor and remembrance to life this winter at the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg. The employees shared their time and equipment to install the facility’s Tree of Stars banners.
The annual display features light pole banners bearing the photos, service information and personal messages of area veterans — including several who now live at the home. Proceeds from banner sales help provide Christmas gifts for every resident.
The program began in 2021 when COVID-19 restrictions limited traditional fundraising events and has continued to grow each year. This winter, 66 banners lined the veterans home grounds, helping recognize more than 350 veterans since the project’s start.
“It is such a blessing to have the linemen do this because they do it right and with such care,” said Latisha Koetting, supervisor of volunteer services.
Across Missouri, electric cooperative employees routinely lend their skills, equipment and time to support local projects and organizations. The work reflects a commitment that extends beyond delivering power — a daily example of the cooperative principle of Concern for Community in action.
Eddie Hubbard, left, is shown with Scott-New Madrid-Mississippi Electric Cooperative Manager James Stephenson after he was recognized during the co-op’s annual meeting. His battle to survive premature birth was aided by the cooperative’s determined employees.
Co-op Time Capsule
In April 1943, twins were born to Clida and Thomas B. Hubbard Sr. near Gray Ridge in southeast Missouri. One died at the Malden hospital. The other needed an incubator to live — but the family had no electricity, and wartime shortages had stopped line construction for their electric cooperative, then called Scott-New Madrid-Mississippi Electric Cooperative (now SEMO Electric Cooperative).
The doctor called the co-op’s manager, Madison Zaricor, and line superintendent, Noah Cox. Two days later, crews set three poles from the main line to the house. As they worked, employees at the office built an incubator with thermostatic heat, ventilation and a glass window.
After 43 days in a hospital incubator, the baby came home still inside it. Days later, the cooperative-made model was ready. “It was larger and he could kick around in it like a normal baby,” Clida told the Rural Electric Missourian. “Soon we were able to take Eddie out and return the incubator to the REC — we are very grateful.”
Eddie, who was named for World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, grew up, graduated from Sikeston High School in 1964 and moved to St. Louis. His life was a quiet testament to the benefits of rural electrification.
Cuivre River Electric’s Jacob Tiefenthaler takes Funny Bunny to the top of a pole while working in Jamaica.
The Adventures of Funny Bunny
In January, a group of Missouri electric co-op linemen traveled to Jamaica to help restore power in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. During the trip a stowaway came along. His name is Funny Bunny, and he is a frequent companion for Cuivre River Electric Cooperative lineman Jacob Tiefenthaler, one of the linemen on the trip.
“My daughter, Grace, was right around 2 or almost 3, and I was leaving to go on a hurricane,” Jacob says. “We were going to work for 10 days to two weeks. And I got her a little stuffed pig, and said, ‘If you miss me, just hug this pig and remember I love you.’ ”
Grace hugged her dad, then told him to wait while she got him something. She could be heard throwing things out of the toy box. She returned with a stuffed rabbit. “She said, ‘This is Funny Bunny. If you miss me, just remember I love you and hug him,’ ” Jacob says. “I said, ‘OK,’ so that was the start of Funny Bunny. I took Funny Bunny with me and sent a picture back every day.”
Since that time, Funny Bunny has ridden along in the ditty bag on Jacob’s tool belt wherever he goes. He’s been to five hurricane restoration efforts, trudged through swamps, braved ice storms and witnessed the recovery from storms in Missouri — and now Jamaica. For Jacob, that stuffed bunny is a constant reminder to work safely, because someone back home is waiting for his return.
When their father was working in Jamaica, the family gathered to pray for the team’s safety. Two-year-old Clara asked God to pray for “daddy and the ‘Lion King.’ ” Her 5-year-old brother, Jackson, was quick to set her straight. “I think you mean ‘daddy and the linemen,’ ” he said.
Her prayer must have worked, because everyone returned to their homes without a scratch.
Back on the home front, each child now has their own critter to take on adventures. Whether it’s the 1-year old, Tommy, having a constant car seat companion, or Jackson sledding with his puppy in the 8” of snow that fell while Dad was away getting sunburnt on a tropical island, there’s no shortage of adventures for Funny Bunny and his crew.