www.pdec.com PRESIDENT & CEOMichael S. Fuller

CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEESJames A. Goodson

TRUSTEESPreston Gainey, Vice-ChairmanPatricia Thomas Toney,   Secretary/Treasurer LaShon Sellers, ChaplainDavid Howell Robert NortonHamer ParnellW. F. RogersDon TealLee C. White

OFFICE HOURS8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS1355 East McIver RoadPO Box 491Darlington, SC 29540

MARION PAYMENT CENTER2523 US-76 Highway8:30 am–4:30 pm. Tuesday and Friday

REPORT POWER OUTAGE (843) 665-4070Toll-Free (866) 747-0060

CO-OP NEWS EDITOR Katie W. Wilcox

Pee Dee Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

� Have an emergency plan and review it with your family.Everyone needs to know the safest place in your home and how you will contact each other.Don’t forget to have a plan for your pets.

� Make sure PDEC has your correct contact information.You also need to keep insurance and other important documents in a safe place.

� Put together a survival kit.Have enough supplies such as, non-perishable food, bottled water, batteries, battery operatedflashlight and radio, first-aid kit, pet food, can opener and medicines to be self-sufficient.

� Use surge protectors on appliances and electronics.Have a system installed, like PDEC’s Meter Based Surge Guard® Protection package, to help safeguard your home.

� Keep your landscape free of debris.Remove threatening objects that could become projectiles. Prune your plants and trim yourtrees of dead limbs.

843-665-4070

Like us on Facebook and/or follow us on Instagram and Twitter or visit our website PDEC.com for more storm related information.

Being prepared can help you and your family minimize the impact of summer storms. The best way to start is before the threat is imminent.

We’re Prepared forSummer Storms.

Are You?

We’re Prepared forSummer Storms.

Are You?

Power Out!Call 866-747-0060 or 843-665-4070 or use our free SmartHub mobile app

Capital credits to be issued in October Revenue received by PDEC over the actual operating expenses is returned to member-owners as capital credits. This money is a result of constant adherence to prudent, sound management practices. Capital credits are returned to member-owners based on a schedule determined by the board of trustees.

For the year 2018, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative allocated $5,382,771.69 back to member-owners. A residential member-owner using an average of 1,400 kWhs per month was allocated approximately $150 for 2018. This is approximately 6.9 percent of the amount the member-owner paid for electricity in 2018.

Capital credit checks for previous years’ allocations will be issued in early October of 2019. This is just one of the many benefits of being a member-owner of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Stay back and stay safeWORKING WITH ELECTRICITY can be a dangerous job, especially for lineworkers. In fact, USA Today lists line repairers and installers among the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. That’s why for Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, safety is the number one priority. This is

not empty talk. Over time, we have created a culture of putting our crews’ safety and that of the community above all else.

Our mission is to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy to you, our members. Yes, we strive to deliver affordable and reliable electricity to you, but equally important, we want our employees to return home safely to their loved ones. This requires ongoing focus, dedication, vigilance—and your help!

While we appreciate your kindness and interest in the work of our crews, we ask that you stay back and let them focus on their task at hand. Even routine work has the potential to be dangerous, and it takes their full attention and that of their colleagues, who are also responsible for the team’s safety. Distractions can have deadly consequences. If a lineworker is on or near your property during a power outage, for vegetation management or

for routine maintenance, please allow them ample room to work. These small accommodations help protect our crews—and you.

If you have a dog, try to keep it indoors while lineworkers are on or near your property. While most dogs are friendly, some are defensive of their territory and can’t distinguish between a burglar and a utility worker. Our crews work best without a pet “supervising” the job.

We recognize that for your family’s safety, you want to make sure only authorized workers are on or near your property. You will recognize PDEC employees by their uniform, and/or the service trucks with our name and logo on them. You may also recognize our lineworkers because they live right here in our local community.

In addition to giving lineworkers some space while they are near your property, we also ask that you move over or slow down when approaching a utility vehicle on the side of the road. This is an extra barrier of safety to help those who help all of us.

MICHAEL S. FULLER

President & CEO

Forms available for petition candidates TO RUN AS a petition candidate for trustee at the 80th Annual Meeting of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, a member must use an Official Petition Form. Forms are available weekdays at the PDEC corporate headquarters. Completed forms will be accepted at 1355 East McIver Road, Darlington, until 5 p.m. Friday, August 23.

4 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING | JULY 2019 | SCLIVING.COOP

SC | co-op newsPEE DEE

� Have an emergency plan and review it with your family.Everyone needs to know the safest place in your home and how you will contact each other.Don’t forget to have a plan for your pets.

� Make sure PDEC has your correct contact information.You also need to keep insurance and other important documents in a safe place.

� Put together a survival kit.Have enough supplies such as, non-perishable food, bottled water, batteries, battery operatedflashlight and radio, first-aid kit, pet food, can opener and medicines to be self-sufficient.

� Use surge protectors on appliances and electronics.Have a system installed, like PDEC’s Meter Based Surge Guard® Protection package, to help safeguard your home.

� Keep your landscape free of debris.Remove threatening objects that could become projectiles. Prune your plants and trim yourtrees of dead limbs.

843-665-4070

Like us on Facebook and/or follow us on Instagram and Twitter or visit our website PDEC.com for more storm related information.

Being prepared can help you and your family minimize the impact of summer storms. The best way to start is before the threat is imminent.

We’re Prepared forSummer Storms.

Are You?

We’re Prepared forSummer Storms.

Are You?

Power Out!Call 866-747-0060 or 843-665-4070 or use our free SmartHub mobile app

BY DANIEL NOLKER

FOR ALMOST 60 YEARS, three generations of Woodards have faithfully tended the land and livestock of Woodard Farms in Darlington County. Much has changed since Frank Woodard purchased his first tract of crop land for $100 an acre in 1962. However, the principles of faith, family and stewardship have remained constant, said Frank’s grandson and third generation farmer Ty Woodard.

Although the Great Depression forced Frank Woodard’s father, Andrew Woodard, out of the farm business, Frank never lost his love for farming. He got a job right out of high school with a meat packing firm called Armour Company and moved to Florence. Over the years, he looked for good crop land for sale, and when he found the land in Darlington County in the early 1960s, he bought it.

“Frank had a passion for farming and enjoyed working. He would run his routes for Armour early in the morning and farm in the afternoon. He had two weeks of vacation every year, and he used one for setting out the tobacco and one for gathering it. He never took a salary off the farm, but invested any extra money in land,” Ty Woodard said.

In 1979, Frank Woodard’s son, Frankie Woodard, graduated from Clemson and was the first full-time farming family

member. Frankie’s sons, Wes and Ty Woodard, also graduated from Clemson in 2003 and 2007 respectively and returned to farm full-time.

As the farm grew, the Woodards raised tobacco, soybeans, corn, wheat and beef cows. However, shifting markets and labor costs meant they had to change their farming practices over time. In 1983, they began raising cotton, and in 2010, they replaced tobacco for peanuts.

“You’ve always got to adapt. You can’t farm the same way now as you did even 10 years ago. Anytime we had an opportunity to do research for Clemson or anybody else, we always jumped at the opportunity to get better,” Ty Woodard said.

Woodard Farms has installed eight center pivot irrigation systems and an electric grain facility that all depend on reliable electricity.

“A lot of the adapting we do today is with technology, and without reliable power, we can’t make those connections. Pee Dee Electric has been an essential partner to provide the power we need, both to the farm and to our homes,” Ty Woodard said. “They provide reliability and service in our rural environment.

When we need them, they are quick to come out and help diagnose and fix problems.”

Reliable partners like Pee Dee Electric help the farm remain sustainable and allow them to find new ways to diversify the operation, Ty Woodard said.

Ty’s wife, Tracy Woodard, said sustainability and diversification have always been key principles of the farm.

“To succeed, it’s important to be businessmen and not just farmers. We’re now looking at other ways to diversify and ensure sustainability,” Tracy Woodard said.

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Three generations of Woodards (from left): Ty Woodard, Frank Woodard Sr., Frank Woodard Jr., and Wes Woodard. Today, Woodard Farms still relies on PDEC to power irrigation systems and a grain facility, shown on the next page.

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TY AND TRACY Woodard’s business, Covered in Cotton, started in December 2017 with a vision to create a product from their locally grown upland cotton. Woven from a crop harvested from their family farm, their 100 percent cotton throw blankets are cultivated and crafted in the Carolinas. Currently, they offer three blanket designs, each named for one of their three children.

Their children were a key reason they created Covered in Cotton, Tracy

Woodard said. In December 2015, their three-month-old son, Tobin, had a fever and showed signs of lethargy and pain. They rushed him to the emergency room at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia where Tobin was diagnosed with Type F bacterial meningitis.

The diagnosis was very rare, severe and dangerous, so doctors were forced to perform emergency brain surgery. Tobin

Family farm grows new business

Covered in Cotton builds on the Woodard Farms legacy

continued on page 20C

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Woodard Farms has installed eight center pivot irrigation systems and an electric grain facility that all depend on reliable electricity. “A lot of the adapting we do today is with technology and without reliable power we can’t make those connections. Pee Dee Electric has been an essential partner to provide the power we need, both to the farm and to our homes,” Ty Woodard says. “They provide reliability and service in our rural environment. When we need them, they are quick to come out and help diagnose and fix problems.”

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20B SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING | JULY 2019 | SCLIVING.COOP

improved daily after the surgery, and he showed no signs of the destruction commonly inflicted by the bacteria. After 35 days in the hospital, Tobin was released and made a full recovery, Tracy Woodard said.

“Our son and we went through some really hard things, but it was a huge blessing. As we walked through that valley, we found a faith, comfort and peace we’d never experienced before. As Covered in Cotton was born, we knew that we’d been given the opportunity to share our story and bring that same faith, comfort and peace to other families experiencing a similar hardship,” Tracy Woodard said.

Creating blankets was inspired by a nurse who gave them a blanket at the beginning of their stay with Tobin. Now, they donate one blanket to a local children’s hospital for every 10 they sell. In December 2018, they were able to donate 40 blankets to the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital exactly three years after their ordeal.

Although they had a passion for their cause, it was not a simple matter to transform their raw cotton into ornate blankets. With a clear vision of what they wanted to accomplish, Ty and Tracy Woodard used contacts at Cotton Incorporated and some internet research

to find family-owned businesses to help them.

To make the blankets, cotton harvested from Woodard Farms near Darlington travels to the cotton gin in Hartsville. From there, it goes to the spinner in Thomasville, North Carolina, then to the yarn plyer in Hickory, North Carolina, down to the weaver in Blacksburg, and returns to the farm as 100 percent ring spun cotton throws.

“More and more people want to know where their food and fiber comes from. However, farmers are often so busy working the land that they don’t have time to share their message. We want to connect with consumers and show them the people who have all had a hand in making these products,” Tracy Woodard said.

Since they sell directly to consumers, Covered in Cotton gives the Woodards

an audience with people they would not otherwise meet, Ty Woodard said.

“The more we can talk about how agriculture works in this country and this community, the better. We’re a family and this is what we love. This is how we make a living and raise our kids. That’s why it’s important to have a way to connect with consumers and put a face on this farm family,” Ty Woodard said. “We’re trying to continue the legacy that we inherited. Because of the way the previous generations built the farm, we’re able to start a new season and carry it into the future.”

Daniel Nolker is a freelance writer, specializing in agriculture, outdoors and rural life.

Ty and Tracy Woodard stand in one of their Woodard Farms cotton fields with their children (from left) Tyson, Tobin and Tate.

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SCLIVING.COOP | JULY 2019 | SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 20C

DARLINGTON STRIPE: Now Fueled By Green Power

See the stars earn their Green Stripe on the 2nd Turn!

Darlington Raceway is once again a driving force in promoting

sustainable energy by running this year’s Bojangles’ Southern

500 Labor Day Weekend races on 100% Green Power!

That’s right, we are fueling up the race with energy generated

from solar, wind and landfill gas. Drivers can earn their Darlington

Green Stripe on the famed 2nd turn, painted green to remind us

all to be kind to our planet.

Sept. 1, 20196:30 p.m.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR PEE DEE ELECTRIC MEMBERS: Get $25 off any purchase of two tickets to the Bojangles’ Southern 500 weekend races. Go to DarlingtonRaceway.com/DARGreenStripe to get your tickets. Order today, offer expires Aug. 24 or while ticket supplies last.

DARLINGTON STRIPE: Now Fueled By

DARLINGTONGREENSTRIPE.COM.

And You Can Earn Your Green Stripe too—

and a chance to ride in a pace car—at DARLINGTONGREENSTRIPE.COM.

Green Power

20D SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING | JULY 2019 | SCLIVING.COOP