After a harrowing landing in his field, Cheri White presents farmer Tom Foster with a Touchstone Energy hat.

championship's practice and competition events. When she gave the farmers a Touchstone Energy hat or shirt and her friendly smile, they couldn't help but like her. On one occasion, she encountered a rough landing in the thistle patch of Tom Foster's field. Foster, a member of Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, came out to greet and assist her and was quite pleased to receive a Touchstone Energy hat. A few days later, as White was preparing to land, she saw a truck chasing the balloon. When she landed, Foster excitedly jumped from the truck and ran up, proudly wearing the Touchstone Energy hat she'd given him previously.

The U.S. National Balloon Championship is a serious competitive event. The best balloonists from around the country have been competing in a number of regional balloon championships throughout the past year. The 100 pilots who accumulate the highest average of points during those regional events qualified for the national championship in Rantoul.

Volunteer Sharon Delaby, wife of Lou Delaby, manager of operations and maintenance at Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, Auburn; watches over the Touchstone Energy display during a shift at the balloon championship.

To accumulate the necessary points to place in the U.S. National Championship, the balloonists are asked to complete a series of tasks to demonstrate their skills. The many different tasks involve balloon racing and dropping markers from balloons at targets below. While it may sound simple, it is exhausting, frustrating and sometimes dangerous, especially when one considers the wind and other unpredictable factors. White overcame those elements and became the first woman balloonist to ever place in the top 10 finalists of the overall national championship.

White is an advocate of family-oriented events and was the ideal spokesperson for Touchstone Energy during the balloon competition. In fact, her family, including her twins, travels to most of the balloon events with her. Greg Nieman, vice president of marketing/business development for Soyland Power Cooperative, Decatur said, "Cheri White was a great ambassador for the co-ops. She emulated the co-op philosophy of family and community. She really embraced Touchstone Energy's theme, 'the power of human connections.'" Not only was White a winner competitively, her attitude epitomized what electric cooperatives have always stood for — integrity, accountability, innovation and community involvement. She made a point to recognize and thank Touchstone Energy for its sponsorship in her acceptance speech at the balloon championship. In return, the Illinois Touchstone Energy cooperatives presented her with a recognition plaque for

For many years, you've known your hometown electric cooperative as your reliable source for power as well as other products and Services. But, if your co-op is affiliated with Touchstone Energy, you are part of a much larger network, made up of local, consumer-owned utilities nationwide, comprising the largest utility in the country. And, we're not just talking about a few co-ops, we're talking about 558 electric co-ops, representing more than 5.6 million households and businesses, reaching more than 15 million people in 37 states.

Touchstone Energy, which drives home the importance of the hometown electric cooperative as the energy provider of choice, reinforces the co-op's pledge to serve its members with integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. And the word "member" is key here. You are not customers of your co-op, you are owner/members, which means you and how you feel about your co-op matter. You're not a number. Members have come to expect personal service and small-town friendliness from their co-op, which seems unique in this fast-paced age of mega-mergers and quantity, not quality. Co-ops nationwide have joined Touchstone Energy so their members can still enjoy the attributes their local co-op brings them, while gaining access to the resources of a national network.

Your co-op is a member of the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC), which exists solely to support the needs of electric cooperatives in the state of Illinois. One service offered by the AIEC, which has affected each of you at one time or another, is the Illinois Electric Cooperative Emergency Work Plan. During storms and other emergencies, the AIEC staff sends out an alert to other cooperatives located outside the outage area that your co-op needs help. Other cooperatives respond to the call and, in turn, send crews and equipment to the affected area. The crews work until the problem is eliminated, then return to their respective cooperatives. After a severe storm, the crews work until the job is done, perhaps several weeks, to restore power to you as quickly as possible.

These two programs, one statewide and the other nationwide, are proof of the importance of cooperation among the co-ops, not just in their own back yards, but on a much larger scale. It is truly the "co-op way" to work together to create a better community, state and even a better nation.

So, the next time you think your co-op is "small potatoes," remember Touchstone Energy and the AIEC, working cooperatively to make your life better. For more information about Touchstone Energy or the AIEC, call your local co-op today.