Mayflower Descendants

"I worked for the local REC beginning in 1956. REA stands for Rural Electrification Administration. It is "over" the REC's, which stands for Rural Electric Cooperative. NIPCO stands for Northwest Iowa Power Company. It supplies electricity for the area cooperatives. When I started working for the Cherokee County REC, I was told that Gma Martena chose not to sign up for electricity in 1939. Since she didn't sign up in 39, it wasn't offered to anyone again until after WWII (summer of 1945). If I remember correctly Dan/Ethel got it in 1946. I vaguely remember someone saying the kitchen was remodeled when the bathroom was put in was in around 1950.

There were 5 linemen when I worked at REC and they were probably in their early 50's. They chose to become my friends. Whenever they were in our area they came to our house mid a.m. or p.m. for a cookie/coffee. I worked there until mid-1958. Cherokee County no longer has a local office. They merged with the Iowa Lakes Cooperative in prob the late 1980's. Some of the counties purchased too much electricity and then the farm economy hit a nosedive. They miscalculated how much the all-new hog confinements were going to need."

Contributed by Mary Hahn (daughter-in-law to Ethel and wife to Bob)