Last month, three students represented Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Incorporated in Washington, D.C., during the annual “Youth to Washington” Tour.  This event, sponsored by the electric and telephone cooperatives of Illinois since the late 1950s, is an introduction for rural youth to our democratic form of government and the cooperative business model.  The students included Wyatt Beaty, Rebecca Beighley and Jacob Wacker of Nashville Community High School, met with Congressman William Enyart and were among 75 rural Illinois youth leaders selected for the trip.  In addition to the Capitol, they also visited Gettysburg, Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington National Cathedral, several Smithsonian Museums, The U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the World War II Memorial, memorials to Presidents Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington and Roosevelt, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Newseum and a number of other historical sites.  Sophomores and juniors in high schools that are within the service area of TCEC are eligible to participate in the annual program.  Tri-County Electric Cooperative is a member of Touchstone Energy and serves more than 16,078 meters over 3,393 miles of line in parts of Franklin, Jefferson, Marion, Perry and Washington counties.

Pictured from l-r: Beaty, Congressman Enyart, Beighley and Wacker.