july & august2014

YtHE WINEs OF WIllCOXYssVEC sCHOlarsHIp WINNErsYaCHIEVINg grEat CustOmEr sErVICE

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Main office 350 N. HaskellWillcox, Arizona 85643(520) 384-2221www.ssvec.org

chief executive officerCreden W. Huber

Board of directorsKathy Thatcher, PresidentPat English, Vice PresidentHarold L. Hinkley, SecretaryDan Barrera, TreasurerCurtis NolanTom GoodmanDon KyteDavid LunaEdward MolinaGene Manring

LocaL office phone nuMBersBenson: (520) 586-2238Bowie: (520) 847-6000Cascabel: (520) 212-6001Elfrida: (520) 642-3475Patagonia: (520) 394-2051San Simon: (520) 845-6000Sierra Vista: (520) 458-4691Sunsites/Pearce: (520) 826-6000Sunizona: (520) 824-6000

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After-hours, weekend and holiday outage number: (800) 422-3275

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In thIs Issue

10

4578

141819

ceo’s MessaGe

puMp test proGraM

MeetinG with ron BarBer

custoMer service

schoLarships

in the kitchen

caLendar of events

savorinG the wines of wiLLcox

Member surveys help guide your cooperative

SSVEC irrigation members save

Arizona Co-op officials meet Arizona delegation

Front line staff and servicemen go the extra mile

SSVEC awards $45,000 to area students

Salads take center stage in summer

Model train open house in August

cover photo by Amanda Baillie, SSVEC Currents Magazine

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ulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative has developed a Pump Test

Program for irrigation members which can help save money when they take energy saving measures. The program targets pumps over 20 horsepower that run more than 3,000 hours per year. While most pumps tested have been agricultural irrigation locations, SSVEC also has tested municipal facilities, golf course pumps and waste water treat-ment plants.

Telly Stanger, SSVEC’s pump test program manager, has been involved in many of the tests and has overseen the program from the beginning. Stanger said, “It’s expensive to pump water and it’s certainly expensive to upgrade pumping equipment. We wanted to make sure we’re targeting pumps that have a payback to the irrigator that makes sense.” For 2013 the pump test was a free service for all who quali-fied and wanted to participate in the program. SSVEC’s next goal is to find economical ways to provide real-time monitoring of the pump’s efficiency to identify problems and maintain the high efficiencies already achieved.

proGraM resuLtsIn 2013 SSVEC tested 170 pumping facilities and found that 44 percent of pumps tested were powered by motors between 125 and 200 horsepower and 35 percent fell in the 75 to 125 horsepower range. The tests found most of these pumps are operating in the 40-45 percent overall efficiency range. Stanger said, “About the best you can get out of one of these pumps is 75 percent overall efficiency. If we can show the irrigator how to increase

that by 25 to 35 percent and translate that into dollars saved, it can really add up.”

The field work portion of the Pump Test Program started in the begin-ning of 2013; however, the idea for a program began back in 2009 when SSVEC was awarded a matching grant from the Federal Government and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Jack Blair, chief member services officer for SSVEC said, “We felt that using a portion of this money to help our irrigation members was a ‘no-brainer.’ They use large amounts of electricity and are good customers. We believed that if we could help them become more efficient and save money to offset future rate increases, it was a benefit to all SSVEC members.”

SSVEC uses irrigation controls to miti-gate system peaks during the summer months. The cooperative sends a radio signal to an irrigation motor which temporarily shuts it off during peak times. Once the peak is over, another signal is sent and power is restored to the motor. By taking these motors “off-line,” the system peak is lowered which saves SSVEC money on its bill from power suppliers.

These savings allowed SSVEC to devel-op “controlled irrigation” rates to share the savings with the members who made the savings possible. Irrigators are given discounts in their rates for al-lowing SSVEC to “control” the motor at peak times on a daily, twice weekly, or once per week basis; the more control, the larger the discount. SSVEC realizes these rates are not for everyone, but those that can work these interrup-tions into their watering plans can save money.

The Pump Test Program set some lofty goals for 2013 and the program performed better than anticipated. The kilowatt-hour (kWh) savings alone were

3,074,100 with 786 in kilowatt (kW) demand reduction. “The kWh savings are huge for the irrigators and the de-mand reduction helps SSVEC,” Stanger said. “The more ways we find to help cut demand, the more we reduce the peak of our system and the less we possibly need to control the irrigation load.”

To further support energy efficiency, SSVEC offers interest free loans to irrigators for approved upgrades. The upgrades can include properly installed Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) and

high efficiency motors. The list of op-tions for efficiency measures doesn’t stop there, however. Irrigators can see big savings from pump retrofits to increase gallons of water pumped per minute. Combine this with new efficient motors and/or a VFD, and in some cases bills could be cut by 30 percent or more.

The program is expected to continue for the rest of this year. Please call Telly Stanger for more details at (520) 384-5515 or email him at tstanger@ssvec.com.

eneRGY MAnAGeMent

ulphur Springs Valley Electric Coop-erative regularly conducts surveys and focus groups of its membership to determine their concerns and opinions

on matters relating to the operation and perfor-mance of the cooperative.

Not only do they help to gauge member satisfac-tion, but they also provide feedback on programs offered by the cooperative (such as solar program and energy management) and opinions of pro-grams that might be offered in the future.

The results also reveal the effectiveness of various communication efforts to members. This is the fourth survey in the past 12 years. The last one was three years ago.

This past March, 620 SSVEC members participat-ed in a phone survey conducted by SSVEC. There were 500 respondents for the general survey and 120 respondents who have installed solar photo-voltaic units.

Questions covered satisfaction with SSVEC’s ser-vice, sources of news information (including social media), views on climate change and willingness to pay more in order for SSVEC to utilize more renewable energy sources and promote energy efficiency.

The following are quotes from the final report:

Y Continued solid and improving performance in the core electric business has given SSVEC a solid foundation and consumer confidence in its ability to manage the challenges ahead. Good perfor-mance on rates and quality of service appears to have restrained resentment about paying more for renewables and conservation measures.

Y Compared to earlier polls, SSVEC has seen impressive improvement in the percentage of members who say that overall they are satisfied with SSVEC. Today 44 percent gave (the co-op) a 10 on a 10-point scale. Another 33 percent give (the co-op) a rating of pretty good (8 or 9).

Y There has been a nice improvement in the percentage that sees themselves as cooperative

members rather than customers. Today 54 percent of them think of themselves as members or member-customers, while 40 percent see themselves as just a customer.

Y (Co-op) scores on “keeping blinks to a minimum” have improved dramati-cally since 2010 (the last time we asked that questions). Eighty-seven percent rate (the co-op) excellent or pretty good, compared to 78 percent earlier.

Note from CEO: Much of this increased satisfaction can be traced to system improvements under the Smart Grid program to improve reliability.

Y Member impressions of efforts to encourage solar power are overwhelmingly positive.

Overall, we find the results positive and are striv-ing to make the numbers even better.

By the way, one question that only 20 percent of the respondents answered correctly was an estimate of the portion of the monthly electric bill that covers the power purchased by SSVEC for delivery to members. There were several percent-age ranges (1 to 10 percent, 11 to 20 percent, 21 to 30 percent, 31 to 40 percent, etc.) given as options.

The survey report states:

Y We note here also that people are woefully unaware of how much of their monthly bill goes to the cost of generating electricity. Merely 20 percent of the members were able to surmise that energy generation amounts to more than half of their monthly bill, and four in 10 wouldn’t even hazard a guess.

The actual number is about 58 percent.

creden w. huBer

ChIef exeCutIve OffICeR’s MessAGe

Member surveys help guide cooperative Tom Goodman of St. David was elected to the SSVEC Board of Directors from District 4 in April. He represents the district that includes the communities of St. David, Whetstone, Hua-chuca City, Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia.

He grew up in St. David and worked on his family’s dairy farm. Following his church mis-sion, he attended Mesa Community College where he played baseball. His first job following college was serving as an officer in the Mesa Police Department. Tom later worked for the Thatcher Police Department. He also owned an excavating company in Mesa for 10 years.

In 1977 Tom went to work at Apache Generat-ing Station in Cochise. The power plant is part of Arizona’s Generation and Transmission Cooperatives and supplies most of the electric energy across SSVEC’s distribution system. He began as a fuel handler and advanced to aux-iliary operator, supervisor of security and coal equipment supervisor. Tom’s responsibilities in the latter position included heavy equipment and the labor pool, visits to various coal mines to check on coal quality and securing coal con-tracts. He worked at Apache Generating Station for 27 years.

Tom says the role of a cooperative director is to “take care as best we can of all of the co-op members.” He cautions it is important for direc-tors to look to the future and not “get stuck” in the present.

Tom has served on the local school board and is currently on the Flood Control Board. He stresses his greatest strength in becoming a director is his thorough understanding of power production at Apache Generating Station. In ad-dition, he said, “I have an understanding of the cooperative way of doing business and the fact that co-ops are community-oriented and focus on their members.”

Tom has five adult children (two sons and three daughters), 24 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Tom competes in rodeo team roping. He and his wife, Samantha, enjoy fishing, hunting and camping.

SSVEC irrigation members save with pump test programtwo examples of

irrigation in the

Kansas settlement

area (northern area

of sulphur springs

valley) are drip

irrigation on a pecan

orchard and center

pivot irrigating a

field of corn.

photos by telly stanger, ssveC

SS

toM GoodMan

tOm gOOdmaN ElECtEd ssVEC dIrECtOr

Telly Stanger Manager of Economic Development and Agriculture, SSVEC

6 7

Arizona Co-op officials visit D.C. to meet Arizona delegation

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There’s nothing like meeting face-to-face with the state’s congressional delegation in their D.C. offices according to Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association’s Phil Bashaw.

“They know when you come nearly all the way across the country to talk about something, it has to be important and they listen,” said Bashaw, the director of government relations and grass-roots advocacy for GCSECA.

Bashaw organized the trip for the Arizona electric cooperative participants for the cooperatives’ national legislative conference held in early May. The two days of visits resulted in the Arizona cooperative officials dropping by all of the offices of Arizona’s representatives and senators.

They accomplished this by dividing the nine Arizona leaders into two teams.

One team was composed of Tyler Carlson, CEO of Mohave Electric Cooperative; Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative Director Curtis Nolan and his wife, Julie; Herbert Tate, a director with Navopache Electric Cooperative; and John Wallace, CEO of GCSECA.

The other team included Creden Huber of SSVEC; SSVEC Director Ed Molina; Navopache EC Director Bradley Baker;

Arizona’s Generation and Transmis-sion Cooperatives’ CEO Patrick Ledger, and Bashaw.

“We visited with the state’s delegation about several issues, including the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the electrification of Africa,” Bashaw said.

“But the number one issue we presented to our elected officials was our concern over the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed

greenhouse gas standards for existing power plants and new power plants.”

He continued, “Those rules have the potential of impacting cooperative members’ electric bills in a huge way.

“More importantly, these rules will impact the role of coal-fired generation in the nation’s mix of generating methods, impacting our ability to provide reliable and affordable electricity to our members.”

Jim Donahue Director/Communications and Member Services, Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association

Congressman Ron Barber (right) listens to Arizona co-op officials (from left) Patrick Ledger, CeO of Arizona’s G and t Cooperatives; Creden huber, CeO of sulphur springs valley electric Cooperative; and ssveC Director ed Molina. Barber’s legislative assistant Grant Kerr also participated in the meeting. (Photo courtesy of Luis Gomez Photos.)

... the number one issue we presented to our elected officials

was our concern over the Environmental Protection Agency’s

proposed greenhouse gas standards for ... power plants ”

8 9

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or the front line staff at SSVEC, customer service goes beyond a simple “can I help you?”

Way beyond, in fact.

It takes extensive training to become a fully-fledged customer service representative and there is more to the job than just answering the phone.

“Every customer service rep has different duties,” supervisor Joyce Hauser said.

“They’ll spend around six months learning different aspects of the job and then rotate to another area. To get a good feel of each position takes about two years. “The training program means it’s easier to be knowledgeable about what they are doing. It allows them a comfort level with both customers and co-workers.”

When asked to describe SSVEC’s approach to customer service, Lainie Keltner, manager of customer service, collecting, billing and meter reading utility servicemen, sums it up with just one word – exceptional.

Keltner oversees a team of about 25 spread across the co-operative’s service area, to include Sierra Vista, Benson, Willcox, Elfrida and Patagonia.

Having served some 30 years with the company, Keltner is just one of a number of seasoned employees – Hauser has 20 years’ service -- who have spent virtually their entire working lives with SSVEC.

And she believes that plays an important part in the quality of service its customers receive.

“I think it’s a testimony to the environment we work in,” she said. “It’s not uncommon for employees to stay that long with utility cooperatives. We may not all be skilled in all departments, but we work closely together to meet the goal of serving the members.”

And having such a close-knit team helps Keltner to overcome the challenges of managing five offices spread far apart.

“Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is scheduling, especially when people are on leave or sick. But I’ve got a fantastic crew that are willing to travel to provide cover,” she said.

With such an intense training program, the customer service representatives – all of whom are currently women, but men are welcome to apply – are well equipped to deal with whatever query comes through the door or on the phone.

That includes taking payments, requests for connects and disconnects, solar energy questions and rate changes.

That range of services, coupled with the fact that employees live and work in the local community, only adds to the quality of customer service, Keltner said.

“We are not a big corporation, we are here and we are local,” she said. “If a customer calls one of our offices and no one is available to answer, they’ll get transferred to another office immedi-ately and can talk directly to a person, rather than a recording.

“We place great personal pride in our customer service representatives.”

Back in the day, SSVEC had a team of work-ers travelling the length and breadth of Cochise County and beyond to read members’ meters.

Modern technology, however, has changed that process and now meters are read remotely, with the information being sent to a substation via a power line.

Steve Denman heads up a staff of four whose job it is to connect and disconnect members, col-lect on unpaid bills, and maintain and inventory meter equipment.

An SSVEC employee for 29 years, Denman and his team are constantly out in the field, often dealing with difficult situations.

Disconnections due to non-payment, in particu-lar, can prove to be a sensitive matter.

“Of course nobody’s happy about being discon-nected,” Denman said. “But we don’t go out there being assertive. First, we’ll knock on the door and then we’ll talk to the member about what we are going to do and why we are doing it. We deal with each situation as it comes up and we try to be sensitive to a person’s situation.”

Delivering exceptional customer servicessVEC FrONt lINE staFF uNdErgOEs EXtENsIVE traININg

ssVEC sErVICEmEN gO aBOVE aNd BEyONd FOr tHEIr CustOmErs

suLPhuR sPRInGs suLPhuR sPRInGs

Amanda Baillie SSVEC Currents Magazine

If you have a residential account with sulphur springs valley electric Cooperative, you now have another way to purchase electricity: Prepaid Metering. this is a “pay-as-you-go” option.

Y no deposits Y no late fees Y Ability to monitor daily usage on smarthub (found at ssveC’s website) Y Ability to make more frequent but smaller payments rather than one large monthly payment

When you sign-up for the program you begin with a $50 credit balance.

You can add to the credit balance us-ing your credit or debit card and take advantage of ssveC’s automated

pay-by-phone system, web payment portal at the cooperative’s website or through the smarthub app on your “smart” device. You can also visit an ssveC office during regular business hours.

When your account credit balance gets low a notification will be sent by email or text messaging.

If you sign-up for Pre-Paid Metering, you can use the deposit from your existing account to pay any amounts that you owe to ssveC and have any remainder applied to your credit balance.

If you would like more information on Pre-Paid Metering, call your local ssveC office.

prEpaId mEtErINg NOW aVaIlaBlE tO rEsIdENtIal mEmBErs

Curt Curtiss pays his monthly ssveC bill while being helped by customer representative Coco Kerley. Photo by Mark Levy, herald/Review

Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative meter reader/utility person, Bob Hardy, disconnects service from a vacant home in Sierra Vista recently. Photo by Mark Levy, Herald/Review

continued on page 9

On the flip side, the utility servicemen will often go above and beyond to get a member connected, especially if a request comes in on a Friday – connections are not conducted on the weekend.

While there is no guarantee, and members are requested to give a minimum day’s notice, the team will go out of its way to ensure someone has his or her electricity turned on as quickly as possible.

“People are really surprised if we are able to get to them on the same day they requested a connection,” said Lainie Keltner. “They really do go above and be-yond to get things taken care of. Our guys are great for that.”

The advent of technology and remote meter reading capabilities means Den-man’s team was reduced by five through retirement and relocation.

“But even with fewer people we have maintained the same level of service,” he said, noting his team members have worked 21, 15 and eight years with SSVEC. “It’s just what we have always done. Our customer is number one. They are why we are here and we do what we do. We treat our members the way we would like to be treated.”

sErVICEmEN continued from page 8

F

10 11

Wonderful wines are grown in a beautiful place.

It’s a simple philosophy that Jan Schaefer believes is key to the suc-cess of Willcox Wine Country.

“This is the real wine country,” she says.

Since its inception around a decade ago, the Willcox wine industry has been aging like a vintage Cabernet that’s just waiting to be opened and savored.

Pioneers such as Coronado Vine-yards and Keeling Schaefer Vine-yards began what has now become a boon for the farming and ranching community of Willcox, bringing much needed economic develop-ment to its downtown area and an influx of tourists to the surrounding region.

Keeling Schaefer Vineyards lies at the heart of this flourishing wine community, an oasis of 21 acres of lush green vines set against the harsher landscape of the encom-passing farmland and distant moun-tain ranges.

Jan and her husband Rod Keeling planted the first grapes on their Pearce property in 2004, producing 200 cases of Grenache and Syrah just a year later. Today, they are able to fill around 3,800 cases of estate wine.

PLACes tO vIsIt PLACes tO vIsIt

“We are proud to say we are a 100 percent estate winery,” Rod said. “We want Willcox Wine Country to be authentic and we are try-ing to establish this area as the place to grow grapes. This is the place to grow fruit and many of the wines being made in Arizona use the fruits from here.”

This rural agricultural community seems an unlikely spot to be competing with the likes of the more famous wine growing regions of neighboring California.

But Willcox Wine Country is now home to 10 wineries, with more planning to open in the near future.

Rather than try to make their mark individu-ally, the wineries decided to band together in 2008 and form the Willcox Wine Country committee under the umbrella of the local Chamber of Commerce.

Out of this group grew the Willcox Wine Fes-tival, which has seen its attendance expand from around 280 to more than 1,500 since the first event in Spring 2009.

“We had seven wineries at that first event and at our last festival in May we had 23,” said Rod, who began making wine with Jan in his home garage before the couple took the plunge with a fully blown vineyard.

W

Amanda Baillie SSVEC Currents Magazine

WSavoring the

ines of Willcox

Above left: Jan schaefer and Rod Keeling enjoy some of the fruits of their labor at the Keeling schaefer vineyards located in the heart of Willcox Wine Country. — Photo by Amanda Baillie/ssveC Currents Magazine)

Above top: visitors from tucson check out pieces by local artists displayed in the Commercial during the Willcox Wine Country spring Wine festival May 17-18. — Photo by Ainslee Wittig/Arizona Range news)

Above bottom: valerie Johnson of seattle, serving flying Leap vineyards’ wine, also chats with visitors Aurora and Mike van scyoc of tucson. In the background are works in the tRust art display. — Photo by Ainslee Wittig/Arizona Range news)

photo by Amanda Baillie, SSVEC Currents Magazine

12 13

In 2010 the couple decided to expand their operation to a tasting room in downtown Willcox – a risky move given the number of surrounding vacant and dilapidated properties at the time.

But they went ahead and bought one of the historic buildings, converted it to meet their needs and opened the doors to what they hoped would be a steady stream of wine lovers.

“It was really quiet,” Rod said. “But since then, we have quadrupled our numbers.”

Their gamble paid off and before long more wineries followed suit, with Flying Leap Vineyards, Aridus Wine Company and Carlson Creek Vineyards opening elegant, art-filled tasting rooms of their own.

“The wineries have definitely had an influence on the downtown area,” said Jan. “And that will only continue to grow and change. We’ve seen some new, small restau-rants open and the hotels are booked when we have our wine events.”

With additional tasting rooms to be found at the other vineyards in the region, there is no shortage of wines to be discovered – Keeling Schaefer alone has 19 on its tasting list, ranging from a Viogner and PicPoul Blanc for white wine drinkers to a Mourvedre and a number of Syrahs for those who prefer reds.

“It’s gotten really competitive, but that’s great,” said Jan, adding that Arizona still has some way to go before being recognized as a premier wine-growing region.

“It will take a long time, but look at how long it took California. We come across a lot of people who say they will only drink California wines, so it’s not going to hap-pen overnight.”

But with the growing interest in the Willcox Wine Fes-tival – now held twice a year on the third weekend of May and October – the industry is certainly moving in the right direction.

Adds Jan, “We are very happy with that event. At the last one, everyone who participated sold their wines. People are still telling us about what a great time they had.”

For more information about the Willcox Wine Festival visit willcoxwines.com or facebook.com/willcoxwine-country.

PLACes tO vIsIt

The wineries have

definitely had an

influence on the

downtown area,

and that will only

continue to grow and

change ... the hotels

are booked when

we have our

wine events.”

Above top: A crowd of about 1,800 attended the Willcox Wine Country’s spring festival on May 17 and 18. the attendees enjoyed tasting many wines, viewing works of local artists and listening to music throughout the two-day event. — Photo by Amanda Baillie/ssveC Currents Magazine

Above middle: nancy Asdell, of st. David, takes a sip of wine while holly van sickle, of Battle Creek, Mich., looks on during the Willcox Wine festival saturday, May 17. — Photo by David Bell/eastern Arizona Courier

Above bottom: Lush grapes fill the vines at the Keeling schaefer vineyards near Willcox. — Photo by Amanda Baillie/ssveC Currents Magazine

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arIdus WINE COmpaNyariduswineco.comCrush Facility & Portfolio Tasting Room40 N. Railview Avenue520-766-2926Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturday & Sunday by appointment onlyWine Tasting Room1125 N. Haskell Avenue520-954-7891Monday-Friday by appointment onlySaturday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

zarpara VINEyard6777 S. Zarpara Lane602-885-8903zarpara.comWine Tasting RoomFriday - Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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14 15

suLPhuR sPRInGs suLPhuR sPRInGs

ulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) an-nounced the winners of 30 SSVEC Foundation Scholarships valued at $1,500 each at the cooperative’s 76th annual meeting at Benson High School on April 24.

This year’s winners included Jessica Borders, Katharine Bryan and Liam Spinney from Benson High School; Berenice Cabrera, Marisela De La Ossa, Jonathan King, Johnny Montanez, and Felix Wharton from Pata-gonia High School; Andrew Camps, Cynthaia Chon and William Ponder from Buena High School; Amy Daley, Taylor Ewing, Dakota Hays and Chelsey Stover from St. David High School; Sydney Davis, Leah Gusk-jolen and Layson Smyer from Willcox High School; Carina Dimerling from CMD Ranch Homeschool; Abigail Estelle, Kortney Haines, Sara Sonke, and Ryan Zamora from Valley Union High School; James Fickett, Cody Nguyen and Marcos Romero from San Simon High School; Dalton Libby and Nicole Sprague from Tombstone High School; Carson Moran from San Pedro Valley High School; and Hector Silva from Bowie High School.

The scholarships recognize extracurricular school activities, leadership potential and community involvement as well as academic achievement.

President Kathy Thatcher explained the purpose and eligibility of the scholarship program during the business meeting portion of the annual meeting. “The cooperative’s board of directors began the scholarship program in 2001 to assist local students with the first year of their for-mal education,” she said. “To be eligible for the scholarship, a student must be a graduating senior and enroll full time in the fall in a college, university, or trade school. In addition, the applicant must be in the upper 20 percent of his class or in the top 10 students (whichever is greater), and the student’s parents or guardians must be members of SSVEC.”

Thatcher presented each recipient in attendance with a scholarship certificate.

Cooperative members who served on the selection committee this year were Jody Klein, retired and former Cochise County Administrator, from Sierra Vista; Shelley Michaels, counselor for Bonita Elementary School, from Willcox; Candace Roll, Valley Telephone Cooperative Director, from Pearce-Sunsites; and Gail Size, CEO of Inside Ultrasound, Inc. and Edu-cation Coordinator for Vascular-Web, from Sunizona.

SSVEC awards $45,000 in scholarships to area students

Benson and st. David students — (in front) Jessica Borders and (standing, from left) Katharine Bryan, Carson Moran, Liam spinney, Dakota hays, Chelsey stover, and Amy Daley.

Bowie, san simon and valley union students — (in front) sara sonke and (standing, from left) Ryan Zamora, Kortney haines, Abigail estelle, hector silva, Marcos Romero, Cody nguyen, and James fickett.

Photo above left: ssveC Board President Kathy thatcher (right) presents a scholarship certificate to Libby Dalton of tombstone high school. Photo above right: Johnny Montanez from Patagonia high school receives his scholarship certificate from ssveC Board President Kathy thatcher.

Patagonia, Buena and homeschool students — (from left) Marisela De La Ossa, William Ponder, Carina Dimerling, Jonathan King and Cynthia Chon.

The scholarship program is funded by the Sulphur Springs

Valley Electric Cooperative Foundation, an educational and charitable foundation. Each year the cooperative

advertises unclaimed patronage capital credits; if the owners of the unclaimed funds

cannot be found, the money is transferred to the SSVEC Foundation. The Foundation also funds the cooperative’s

Washington Youth Tour program and the Youth

Engineering and Science Fair.

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ssVEC lINEmEN COmpEtE FOr INtErNatIONal lINEmaN’s rOdEO Apprentice Linemen Marcus Lehmann (Benson), Chad Wittenburg (sierra vista), and sammy De La Cruz (sierra vista) will advance to the International Lineman’s Rodeo Competition in Bonner springs, Kansas, this fall. Grant McCune (Benson) will attend as an alternate.Photo above shows the winners and co-op supervisors at the May 17 event. from left, Mark Roll (maintenance supervisor), McCune, Lehmann, Mike Cook (Willcox journeyman lineman), Wittenburg, De La Cruz, and Ricardo Garcia (construction supervisor). Photo by stephanie Roll

18 19

the deadline for the september issue of Currents featuring events for the months

of October and November is august 4. Email information to wcrane@ssvec.com.

When the weather is warm, many people are inspired to expand their cu-linary horizons and look for foods that are light, fresh and satisfying.Although warm-weather cooking may call to mind backyard barbecues, there is much more to seasonal dining than charbroiled frankfurters and beef patties. Taking a fresh approach to cooking can yield a number of new and innovative meals.Warm-weather dining means exploring different flavor options to find lighter fare.

COOl dOWNWhen the temperature is high, few people want to fill their stomachs with heavy, hot foods. Instead of cooking up a batch of stew, reinvent recipes for a warm-weather spin.For example, experiment with chilled soups. Borscht is a beet-based soup of Eastern European origin that is very often served cold. Other vegetables or fruits can be pureed and served as a cold summer soup. Gazpacho, a Span-ish tomato-based soup, is the most widely known cold soup. However, cucumber- and avocado-based soups and creamed vegetable soups also can be enjoyed chilled.

EmBraCE saladsWhile salads may be relegated to side dishes for most of the year, they tend to take center stage when the weather heats up. The addition of fresh berries, grapes or raisins can lend a different flavor to salads. Think about topping salads with grilled fish or chicken to add more substance to salads serving as entire meals. Rather than using heavy dressings that may end up covering the delicate fla-vors of lettuce leaves and other greens, use vinaigrettes made from citrus fruits to add both sweetness and tartness to dishes.

saVOry saNdWICHEsWho says sandwiches are only for lunch? When the weather is warm and families are busy hurrying here and there, sandwiches make for fast and portable meals. Grilled vegetables paired with grilled mushrooms can make hearty, satisfying sandwiches that are relatively low in calories. Previously grilled chicken can be shredded and turned into chicken salad when mixed with Greek yogurt and apple cider vinegar. Even standard cold cuts can be given a new twist

when turned into cold-style reubens by being topped with cole-slaw or chilled sauerkraut on gourmet slices of herbed bread.

pastas aNd CassErOlEsMuch as warm-weather soups can be served cool, so can pastas and cas-seroles. Pasta is a versatile food that can be paired with traditional salad ingredients or mixed with vegetables or dressings to make a variety of different dishes.Baked casseroles can be served at room temperature for pot-luck meals in the

yard or brought along when visiting friends and family. Chunks of mushrooms, summer squash, eggplant and garlic can be sauteed and baked together to make a hearty and flavorful vegetable cas-serole.

sEaFOOdLobster, shrimp and clams can be har-vested from the coast and then cooked on the grill or over an open fire. For those who want chilled seafood, opt for shrimp cocktail or head out for a sushi and sashimi meal at a local restaurant.

June 19 & July 12

mOrE tO summEr sEasON tHaN BarBEQuE

salads are a summertime staple. freshen them up with different ingredients to expand your culinary horizons.

In the KItChen

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

PLEASE NOTE

august 16-17Open House Cochise Western Model Railroad Club stop! Look! And listen to authentic sounds of a work-ing railroad. Our layouts are always changing. so come check us out.

We will raffle off a complete layout with engine, cars, scenery, buildings and landscaping. Door prizes for kids of all ages. Admission is always free. Donations are always gratefully accepted.

We’re a little difficult to find, but worth it. You’ll find us in the West end of sierra vista at 640 fort Avenue between north Garden Avenue and West Kayetan Drive.

for more information visit our website at www.cwmrrc.com or contact Charles at (520) 458-8397 or emailcacole2@cox.net.

august 18Rehearsals for Sierra Vista Community Chorusthe sierra vista Community Chorus, under the direc-tion of sharon Keene, is looking forward to another exciting concert season. Rehearsals begin at 9:30 a.m. on August 18 and every Mon-day thereafter.

Rehearsals are held at the ethel Berger Center, 2950 e. tacoma street in sierra vista.

the chorus welcomes new members, adult men and women up to 80-plus years and welcomes back all those members who helped make past concerts a success. the choral music is arranged in four-part harmony. no auditions are necessary and there are no dues or charges to join.

july 14-18 Join us on a safari as we explore the strange and fascinating world of animals. Learn about the animal kingdom, from those that live with us as pets, to the ones that live in the wild. Campers will create animal arts and crafts, welcome animal visitors, take a trip to an alpaca farm, and picnic in a national park.

Ages 5-11 (entering grades K-6) • $225, $25 nonrefundable deposit. Location: Apache Middle school

for more information email rsouthee@girlscoutssoaz.org or call 520-319-3192.

july 19the sierra vista historical society’s Adult speakers Program begins at 1 p.m. at the henry hauser Museum, 2930 e. tacoma st., sierra vista.

this week’s program will explore ”C.s. fly’s Journey of Photography in Arizona” with Craig Mcewan. the following saturday, July 26, “Journey to Brown Canyon Ranch” with sarah Barchas and Jose Garcia will be featured.

All programs are free and open to the public.

july 26sports, fitness and Aquatics will host the “first time” triathlon beginning at 8 a.m. at Barnes field house.

the triathlon is open to all levels and will consist of swimming in the indoor pool, riding a spin bike and running on the track.

entrants can register at Bfh or online at raceentry.com. entry deadline is July 24. Race day registrations will not be accepted. for more information, call 533-3858

sEptEmBEr 3 Annual Sewing Room Sale

Come join us for our annual sewing Room sale sponsored by the hummingbird stitchers Quilt Guild. this indoor yard sale features fabrics, notions, threads, yarns, craft kits, buttons, orphaned projects, quilting magazines, books, embroidery kits, a few sewing machines and much more. It will be held at our meeting room at Apache Middle school, 3305 fry Blvd., just east of veterans’ Memorial Park. the time is 9 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Bring plenty of cash and your checkbook. sorry, no debit or credit cards.

for more informa-tion about the Guild and the sale visit us at www.hummingbird-quiltguild.com.

One of readers’ favorite sections from our previous magazine version of Currents was titled “At home.”

It was a page devoted to requests from readers for specialty recipes, old song lyrics, craft materials, out-of-print books or other items of specialized interest. It was not a classified or sales section; it was simply a no-cost exchange of information or items of very small value.

We received about a half dozen phone calls asking if this particular feature could be included in the new version of Currents. Yes, it can … if there is sufficient interest.

therefore, if you’d like to request information or an item to be listed in an upcoming edition of Currents, please mail that request to W. Crane at 350 n. haskell street, Willcox, AZ 85643 or email it to wcrane@ssvec.com.

single requests only; no duplicates. Include postal address for responses. (no phone numbers will be published.) Please limit your request to 50 words (not counting your name and address). Items will be listed on a first-come basis.

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