“It has been said that character isn’t reflected by who you are on your best days, but rather who you are on your worst days. When your plans are working, it’s easy to stand tall. To speak with confidence.” —Bret Nicks

Nicks goes on to say that the real test of a person’s character is what they do when a crisis hits. Well, a crisis did hit our region in July — a derecho. It was devastating to much of Illinois, Indiana and beyond. The true character of many people was revealed during this event.

True character was revealed by all the hardworking men and women who faced the devastating impact of this storm without hesitation. EnerStar’s field personnel were working in the midst of this storm 16 to 18 hours a day while lightning continued to flash. Several of these people had vacations scheduled that they voluntarily canceled (even before being asked) to meet the need. Some were without electricity at their homes as well. Spouses kept things going on the homefront.

True character was revealed by the crews from neighboring utilities who left their homes in the midst of this storm to join with our crews to take part in the restoration effort. This was a great blessing. It helped to expedite the recovery effort and helped our crews deal with the fatigue that comes from long days without real rest. While we all want every member’s power turned back on quickly, even more we desire every worker be able to go home, without injury, to their wives and children. Fatigue is a great enemy to safety.

True character was revealed by EnerStar’s Engineering and Operations Manager Greg Hollingsworth, who did more than manage the restoration effort. He set aside all else and dedicated himself to making sure every member had their power restored as quickly as possible. He truly put his heart into this mission. I could go on, but suffice it to say there were numerous other employees who played a key role as well.

But true character was also revealed by our community. You see, I believe the opening quote not only applies to individuals but also to communities. The character of our local community was revealed in many ways. On our Facebook page, we thank many of the people/businesses who stepped up to help. Below is a quick summary of those who played some role in helping EnerStar help our members (as reported by Facebook): Joe Keys, KBG Deli, the Colvin family, Hampton Inn, Lincoln Suites, Paris McDonald’s, Mike Myers, Kevin Murphy, We Li Kit Farmstand, Darren Warren, Mike Smallwood, Joe’s Pizza, The Fizz, Frosted by Maddie, Tami Newlin, the Camp family, Pat Rhoads/Mill Creek Restaurant, Los Tres Caminos, Allen and Donna Vietor, the EnerStar Board of Directors, individual co-op members, the families of our co-op employees, and finally, our co-op employees.

It is impossible for this to be a complete list. Yet it is comprehensive enough to illustrate my point: The true character of this community was revealed by this crisis. What it revealed was a community made up of people willing to pull together during a time of crisis and help each other. Stated another way, “Derecho 2023” didn’t build the character of our local community. Instead this crisis revealed the character that had been there all along!

We appreciate the encouragement, support and patience of our co-op members as we worked to restore service following one of the worst storms we have had in well over a decade.