Smithville Electric System Commemorates 41 Years of Service

Smithville Electric System held a small luncheon Wednesday to commemorate 41 years of service to the City of Smithville.
Two of the directors, John Robert Nixon and Dr. W.E. Vanatta, who have been on the SES board since it was established in 1969, were also recognized for 41 years of service.
Mayor Taft Hendrixson presented plaques to each man which reads ” Your dedicated service and conservative leadership has helped make Smithville Electric System what it is today. Your commitment is greatly appreciated by the City of Smithville Mayor and Board of Aldermen, 2010.”
Nixon, who has also served as chairman of the board since it’s beginning, says he appreciates all the employees and supporters from the City of Smithville and Smithville Electric.” I also want to thank our vice chairman who is not here today, Dr. W.E. Vanatta. He is not feeling well. I want to give him as much or more credit for the growth and prosperity of Smithville Electric as any of the rest of us. We started out here in 1969 with Dr. Vanatta, John Bill Evins, Bill Maffett, Clarence Braswell, and myself on the board. Some of those are not with us anymore and we sure do miss them but their replacements have all been excellent people that had one thing in mind, the growth of the city of Smithville and Smithville Electric. We want to thank everybody for this. We have one of the lowest rates. We were, out of 154 distributors, the twelfth lowest in rates. We have maintained a good crew to take care of people after hours and if it weren’t for the squirrels we wouldn’t have any power outage much.”
After the regular board meeting, fellow SES board members visited Dr. Vanatta in his home to make the award presentation. Dr. Vanatta said he was grateful to them. “I want to thank the Smithville Electric System. I want to thank the mayors over the years that’s re-appointed me on the electric board. I have so many people to be grateful to. They have all been cordial and easy to work with. I couldn’t ask for a better bunch.”
Smithville Electric System is governed by a five member board of directors, who are appointed by the Mayor. In addition to Nixon and Dr. Vanatta, other current members of the board are Tony Hagan, Walter Burton, and Smithville Alderman Cecil Burger.
The SES Manager is Michael E. Parker.