Patriotism, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “love for or devotion to one’s country.” Perhaps no other day of the year evokes such a sense of patriotism as Independence Day. With flags rippling in the wind; red, white, and blue bunting adorning porches and storefronts; and local parades with marching bands on display, it’s easy to feel a swell of pride for our country.

Arguably, another — perhaps deeper — form of patriotism is active engagement in public and civic life.

Involvement in your community promotes a richer life and ensures that institutions thrive and communities remain vibrant, inviting places to live, work, and play. Besides being enjoyable, your participation in community events and activities along with your friends, neighbors, and co-workers makes a difference. Simple things like supporting a bake sale or attending a local high school event signals to the young people in your community that you care and support them, and that the community itself is worth sustaining.

In fact, that’s why Paulding Putnam Electric Co-op is holding its first-ever Member Appreciation Day on July 28 from 10 to 2 p.m. at the Paulding County Fairgrounds. On that day, we will celebrate you, our members. This will be a fun-filled day for the whole family. There will be games for the young kids and an opportunity to meet and talk to employees and board members.

You should have received the admission ticket in your May and June bills. But if you’ve misplaced it, you can also cut out the admission ticket on page 7 for more details. This is going to be a great event. I would like to encourage and invite all members to attend!

Also, in this month’s issue, please take note that we have a list of unclaimed capital credits on pages 18A-H. When capital credits are retired, active members receive a bill credit on their December bills; former members receive a check mailed to their last address on record. Sometimes a member moves away from the area and does not provide a new address. In that case, their capital credits check is returned to us. Each year, we receive many checks back because of bad addresses.

Our employees do a good job trying to locate former members when these checks are returned. The list of the names for those whose checks have been returned are printed in the magazine, and our employees maintain an unclaimed capital credits check listing on our website. Former members can search our website (www.PPEC.coop) to see if they have any outstanding capital credits checks.

PPEC employees are here for you — the members. They are committed to the community and committed to bringing the best member service possible to you.

And that’s another reason why we’d like to invite you to our first-ever Member Appreciation Day — July 28 at the Paulding County Fairgrounds. It’s just another way to say thank you for being a valued consumer-member of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative.

GEORGE CARTER
President and CEO