Utilities join forces to prevent accidents

Farm related deaths increased last year and several deaths were the result of electrical accidents. Moving tall grain augers while near power lines is an all too common cause of these accidents. Virtually all these and other accidents involving electricity can be prevented if people understand the dangers and steps they can take to be safe around electricity.

Prevention of electricity-related tragedies is the goal of "Safe Electricity," a statewide campaign being launched by a coalition of nearly three dozen Illinois electric utilities, electric cooperatives and the University of Illinois. All are members of the Illinois Electric Council (IEC).

"Each member of the IEC is committed to electrical safety and promotes safety through their own organization," said Paul Benson, executive director for the IEC. "But this cooperative effort expands upon those individual programs."

The campaign focuses on electrical safety in four main areas - home, youth safety, agribusiness and contractor safety. The Safe Electricity effort uses a number of vehicles to deliver information to broad audiences, including radio and television public service announcements (PSAs), the Internet and print materials. The centerpiece is a comprehensive Web site, www.SafeElectricity.org. The site has detailed information and lists educational materials available, such as videotapes and books for teachers and others promoting safe use of electricity.

National Amateur Trapshooting Association new headquarters near Sparta

A 1,300-acre site near Sparta in Randolph County will be the site for the new national headquarters of the Amateur Trapshooting Association — the largest clay-target shooting organization in the world.

The $8 million facility, which will include a corporate headquarters complex, trapshooting facilities, recreational vehicle campground, and vendor mall with food, museum and support facilities, will create 20 full-time and hundreds of part-time jobs associated with its operations, training programs and events.

"The Amateur Trapshooting Association's decision to locate its new headquarters north of Sparta will not only create new jobs, but enhance the Southern Illinois tourism industry," said Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) Director Pam McDonough.

McDonough said DCCA will issue a $500,000 grant through the Linked Development Program to assist with public infrastructure needs associated with the development. Illinois FIRST grants, secured by Senator David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) and Representative Dan Reitz (D-Steeleville), will help fund the development. In addition, the Governor's Open Land Trust program will fund 50 percent of the land acquisition for the complex, with the land to be maintained as open space.

Founded in 1900, the Amateur Trapshooting Association governs the sport's rules and regulations, sanctioning shooting events through more than 1,300 affiliated clubs.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING www.aiec.org

Fish co-op opens processing plant in Pinckneyville

The Illinois Fish Farmers Co-op Processing Center in Pinckneyville may be the most technologically advanced fish processing plant in the U.S. The plant opened in December and can handle a variety of farm-raised fish and shrimp that will be marketed through the Prairie Lands Seafood brand name.

The first fish to be processed were raised by Butch Medlin on his farm near New Haven. His farm has 50 acres of channel catfish and bass ponds. He serves on the co-op's board of directors.

Medlin says, "I got tired of seeing $1.80 prices for a bushel of corn and $4.50 for beans. I don't see that changing anytime soon. I used to be in the hog business and that really hurt us. I thought this fish farming looked promising."

For more information about the Illinois Fish Farmers Co-op call (618) 357-3474.

Help available for Alzheimer's patients and families

More than 70 percent of America's four million Alzheimer's patients are cared for in the home. Their caregivers are the wives, husbands, daughters, sons, or other loved ones who care enough to take on this 24-hour-a-day job. Many caregivers live under the same roof with the patient, but others, mostly adult children, have the added challenge of trying to manage a sick parent's care from afar.

Alzheimer's caregivers need all the help they can get. Not only does the patient need round-the-clock care, they need practical assistance with every aspect of life, from dressing and eating to handling insurance claims, mowing the lawn and managing the bills. No one can do it all.

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine has designed a network of 23 primary provider sites as part of its Springfield-based Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders. Last year the SIU center and its Illinois provider sites saw 1,300 patients. Alzheimer Disease can be difficult to diagnose. A comprehensive evaluation is essential because no single test or examination can yield a definite diagnosis. Alzheimer support groups, available in several Illinois communities can also help patients and families cope.

To contact the SIU Alzheimer Center call (800) 342-5748 or visit www.siumed.edu/cadrd/.

There are other sources of help for caregivers, but those resources are fragmented. Navigating the maze of services can be a formidable job. The following are some important resources that can help caregivers find help in their own community or answer crucial questions. Much of this information is free.

• Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center (ADEAR) (800) 438-4380, www.alzheimer's.org/adear.

• American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) (202) 434-2277.

• American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) (800) 437-2423, www.ahaforg.

• Eldercare Locator (800) 677-1116, www.aoa.dhhs.gov/.

• Medicare General Information Hotline, (800) 638-6833.

• Social Security Information Hotline, (800) 772-1213.

While no amount of assistance can ease the grief of watching a loved one slowly deteriorate from Alzheimer's disease, knowing where to turn for help can ease some of the stress. For more information about Alzheimer's disease and how to cope with it, call the Alzheimer's Family Relief Program, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation at (800) 437-2423, or write to them at 15825 Shady Grove Road, Suite 140, Rockville, MD 20850, or go online to www.ahaf.org.

Creating value-added opportunities for southern Illinois

For agriculture producers to survive in the 21 st century they must begin to take a more innovative approach to raising and marketing their products. This includes becoming involved in value-added agricultural initiatives.

One example of this kind of value-added initiative is the Southern Seven Agriculture Planning Coalition, said Mary Holmes, manager of the Illinois Value-Added Research Development Center (IVARDC) program for the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University.

An objective of the coalition is to identify ways to integrate agriculture into rural economic development opportunities, bringing benefits to both individual producers and to the region, she added.

"The purpose of the Workforce Advantage Program is to coordinate the efforts of state agencies to improve the social and economic well-being of designated regions and communities throughout the state," says Holmes. The targeted area in southern Illinois includes the counties of Alexander, Union, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Hardin and Pulaski.

For more information contact Mary Holmes at (800) 526-9943 or John Pike at (618) 453-5563. Information about the Illinois Value-Added Rural Development Center and its programs is also available at www.iira.org.

MARCH 2002 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 7

Touchstone Energy balloon sets new world record

It's dusk at 6,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains and more than a dozen hot air balloons are glowing in the Colorado twilight. Cheri White checks a gauge, pulls a lever, and four feet of flame roars to life, kicking out a welcome oasis of heat and light. The Touchstone Energy balloon inhales and 69,000 cubic feet of air shifts, sways and steadies. The basket holding White is primed, ready to fly. But tonight is for show. Tomorrow is for the flight and a chance to be in the Guinness Book of World Records.

She gives the balloon another breath and thinks about other adventurers who have landed on Breckenridge, Colo. Skiers, and adrenaline addicts from all around the world and all walks of life are all looking for big air. Snowfall and high winds defeated the eager and skilled balloonist all week long. At times, the wind gusts were reported at more than 90 miles per hour.

But no one has chased air this big for years. On December 8, 15 hot air balloons sailed across the Continental Divide in a world record-setting event billed as the Rocky Mountain Balloon Challenge. Illinois' Touchstone Energy co-ops were there to represent electric co-ops across the country. Touchstone Energy is a national alliance of local, consumer owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to customers, large and small. More than 550 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 39 states are delivering electric power and energy solutions to more than 16 million customers.

Kevin Bernson, a veteran videographer and media and public relations manager at Shelby Electric Cooperative, Shelbyville, was also there to record the event. A Guinness requirement is that a photographer and videographer must film each balloon's takeoff, crossing and landing. James E. Coleman, president/CEO of Shelby Electric Cooperative, is also a professional photographer and joined Bernson in recording the event.

"As it came close to lift off time, I was getting cold feet," Bernson recalls. "Figuratively and literally. I almost talked myself out of going along."

The high peaks of the Rocky Mountains added to the beauty of the event but represented the unique challenge for the balloonists. Each balloon was equipped with a survival kit just in case the unexpected happened. Survival kits had oxygen, flashlights, sleeping bags and blankets, small foods and a pot for melting snow for water.

"You had these giant rainbow teardrops making their way over the mountain peaks, and every once in a while, through the divide you could hear somebody cheering," recalls Bernson. "It was the balloonists. They were celebrating as they cleared the Divide."

In little more than hour, it was over. Another first was that women pilots, including Cheri White, the pilot of the Touchstone Energy Balloon, piloted a third of the balloons.

The Touchstone Energy Hot Air Balloon is a professionally flown and managed, competitive hot air balloon sponsored by the Cooperative Balloon Associates, LLC, which is comprised of the following Illinois Touchstone Energy Cooperatives: Shelby Electric Cooperative, Shelbyville; Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Mattoon; Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, Paxton; Norris Electric Cooperative, Newton; Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, Auburn; McDonough Power Cooperative, Macomb; Corn Belt Energy Corporation, Bloomington; Southern Illinois Power Cooperative, Marion; Jo-Carroll Electric Cooperative, Elizabeth; and Soyland Power Cooperative, Decatur.

For more information about Touchstone Energy cooperatives go to www.touchstoneenergy.com.

8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING www.aiec.org

This is a story about "Rural" David vs. "Big City" Goliath. If you were writing it as a script, I'm not sure anyone would believe it. But it is a true story. As you could imagine, both "Rural" and "Big City" took different strategies to develop into the powerhouses each became. Both started in 1962 with a new retailing concept, each concentrating on their own markets. Each also took a strategy of locating their critical distribution centers in their own markets.

By 1971, when they each had grown significantly within their own markets, they began to go head-to-head and have been going after each other ever since. However, they have continued with their rural vs. big city bias to this day. But in 1971 Goliath was 30 times bigger, with approximately 1,000 stores and over $3 billion in sales, having a profit greater than David's total sales.

Let's fast forward to today and look at how their distribution strategies have changed over the past 30 years. Goliath has 18 distribution centers, with 12 located within the 50 biggest metropolitan areas. David has 50, but with only 10 in the biggest metropolitan areas. As an example, around Chicago, Goliath's only distribution center within 300 miles is located in the south suburbs. David's three distribution centers, all located in rural communities of less than 9,000 in population, strategically surround Chicago but are located from 100 to 250 miles away. Why has David taken this strategy? While we are not privy to the inner workings of the company, research shows that their strategy is less expensive in initial costs and operating costs, with a higher level of productivity in their workforce.

Staying in the present, David is today five times the size of Goliath and very profitable. Goliath is an aging, money-losing, shrinking giant searching for a strategy for the future. If you had bought $1,000 of stock of each company in 1971 when they first started to compete directly against each other, your $1,000 in Goliath would have grown to $8,800. But the same investment in David would have grown to $2.8 million. By now you've probably figured out that David is Wal-Mart and Goliath is K-Mart.

The obvious lesson learned from this is that the choice to locate where K-Mart's distribution centers are, might not be a wise long-term solution. Wal-Mart's lower cost approach has clearly proven to be more of a winner in the long-term.

Source: Coleen Phillips, Agracel, Inc. Development Quarterly, www.agracel.com.

MARCH 2002 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 9