by Caleb Jones A couple of months ago, my brother and I took our boys, our dad and a handful of cousins and family friends on the fishing trip of a lifetime. Our destination was Fletcher Lake, Ontario. Calling it “remote” doesn’t do it justice. There are no roads to...
CEO column
A Tax Worth Paying
by Caleb Jones I’m normally the guy who says, “Vote no on all taxes.” I get a burr in my saddle whenever I’m asked to pay a tax and can’t see where the money actually goes. But there’s one tax I’ll gladly pay: Missouri’s Parks, Soils and Water tax. This tiny one-tenth...
Happy birthday, America
by Caleb Jones My little girl Charleston isn’t so little anymore. This past week, we celebrated her 11th birthday. As I was tucking her in the night before, I could feel the excitement. She had big plans for her special day. Thankfully, she looks like her mother, but...
Best Laid Plans
by Caleb Jones Last weekend, Lindsey and Charlie headed out of town for a dance competition. Max and I had other plans. While they were packing dance shoes and hair spray, we were loading turkey decoys, camouflage and enough shotgun shells to make every gobbler in...
The Real CEO
by Caleb Jones Long before I convinced Lindsey to marry me, I learned I was going to have to earn it. If memory serves me right, I sent her flowers every day for a week before she would even return my call. Some men fall in love at first sight. I apparently signed up...
Choose Hope in Difficult Times
by Caleb Jones In February, I welcomed a few hundred electric cooperative friends to Jefferson City for our 2026 State Legislative Conference. They came from every corner of the state with one shared purpose — to make sure rural voices are part of the policy...
A Doggone Good Lesson
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop There ain’t nothing better than a good dog. For me, that dog was Tuffy. He might’ve been a mutt, but the majority of his breed was “best friend.” Tuffy could round up cattle, chase off snakes and bark at any truck he didn’t...
Hillbilly traffic jam
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop I’ve figured out the best medicine for a long day at the office isn’t found in a bottle — it’s found on a lettered two-lane blacktop. There’s something about taking the long way home, rolling the windows down and letting the wind...
Nothing beats a county fair
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop There’s nothing better than a good county fair. Corn dogs, funnel cakes, the 4-H cake decorating contest, every kind of critter you can imagine — and usually a pretty good tractor pull to top it off. Up until last week, my favorite...
When the lights go out
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop It was a quiet Saturday morning in Missouri — or so I thought. I was standing on the sidelines watching my son, Max, play goalkeeper in a soccer game. The sun was out, the game was close and I was trying to keep one eye on the ball...







