GVEC Klimitchek, Richard and Joyce - October 3, 1987
Interview with Richard and Joyce Klimitchek
Interviewer: Ralph Ingram Jr.
Transcriber: Ralph Ingram Jr.
Date of Interview: October 3, 1987
Location: Mr. and Mrs. Klimitchek’s Home, Hallettsville, TX
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Begin Tape 1, Side 1
Ralph Ingram Jr.: This is an interview taking place on the third of October, 1987, between Ralph Ingram Jr., senior graduate student for Southwest Texas State University, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Klimitchek of Hallettsville, Texas. This concerns an oral transcript, an oral recording of oral history about their consumer relations with Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative [GVEC]. At this time, I will again state some of the details in reference to the oral history collection of Southwest Texas State University. They have signed the documents requested. There will be one tape kept in the archives at the university, one tape at Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative. There will be a typed transcription on file in the University Archives, a typed transcription on file at GVEC, and a typed transcription on file sent to the interviewee, Mr. and Mrs. Klimitchek, after they have examined it and made any additions and/or deletions to the material. Now, do you understand everything that we’ve gone across so far?
Richard and Joyce Klimitchek: I do
Ingram: How long have you resided in the GVEC service area?
R. Klimitchek: A total of about thirty-two years. In the Hallettsville area.
J. Klimitchek: I might say we both grew up in this area and were in this area when the electric power lines were built in this area. My family got electricity in 1948, and his family got electricity in 1949. Of course, we grew up and married and moved away for a few years and then came back here in 1960. And, we’ve lived at this place since 1960.
Ingram: Right in, just south of Hallettsville, eleven miles.
J. Klimitchek: Right, we moved into this home in January of 1960.
Ingram: What do you remember most about them building the lines? Did you see them building the lines?
R. Klimitchek: Oh yes, back in 1949, when I was living with my folks on my mother’s place, we saw the lines being built. GVEC got the permits—we saw the area being cleared and the construction work, and then we got electricity to our house sometime in 1949. We did part of the work; my older brother did some of the electrical wiring. We would go over to GVEC; Mr. Davis was the manager, and Doyle Hines was in member services at the time, he fixed us up with some of the wiring—the meter loops and so forth. So, some time in ’49, we had electricity. And one of the first things that we got for my mother was an electric cook stove. She had used a wood stove up until then. And then a refrigerator and a deep freeze. This was back in 1949. It was quite a change, especially having a refrigerator; up until that time, we couldn’t keep any fresh meat or anything like that.
Ingram: What is the greatest difference between now and the time before you had electric power? What do you remember most? We’re talking about right now.
J. Klimitchek: Do you mean in reference to our surroundings?
Ingram: Great!
J. Klimitchek: I think one thing is the world’s in such a rush now compared to what it was back then. Seems like we’re always on the run, more so than we were back then. Of course, a lot of things were different then. We walked to school two miles and back home in the afternoon two miles. Do you think any children would do that now? Most of them like to be picked up at the front door.
Ingram: Exactly, I have a hard time getting mine out to the school bus at seven o’clock in the morning.
J. Klimitchek: Right. And, before, the children were expected to do more at home before they went to school then than they are now. Most children now, like you say, it’s hard to get them out of bed and something to eat and off to school on time, whereas when we were growing up, we were expected to get up and go milk the cows and feed some of the animals and do things like that and then come to the house, and Mother would have breakfast ready for us. We would eat and then walk or ride horses to school.
Ingram: What was it like before 1949?
R. Klimitchek: Well, we were in a butcher club, and every Saturday morning we’d go about seven miles up the road and get a little cut of beef. We had a membership of about seventeen; that’s the only way we worked it out to have fresh beef because you couldn’t keep it. We’d get out fifteen to seventeen pounds, our part of the beef, we’d have to bring in home and eat it up on a Saturday or Sunday or cook some of it and put it away some place. All your meats had to be canned or sealed somehow or another, packed in lard, something like that to keep it because you just couldn’t keep meat. And so it was terrible. Now, we take all this stuff for granted. In other words, I can go out and butcher chicken or a squirrel or whatever and just put it in the refrigerator or freezer, and that’s something we didn’t have before. We didn’t even have ice for our meals before.
J. Klimitchek: Our family had an Electrolux coal oil refrigerator; it took five gallons of coal oil a week to keep that thing going. So, we had a means of keeping things cool and having ice.
Ingram: What was your first electric appliance? Or appliances? What was the first thing you bought that did you the most good?
J. Klimitchek: Electric range and electric refrigerator, and then a deep freeze.
Ingram: In that order?
J. Klimitchek: Well, I think they were all bought about the same time. But we did get the range and refrigerator, I can remember, before we got the deep freeze.
R. Klimitchek: And at our home it was about the same way. The range, I think, was first, and then a refrigerator and a deep freeze. Then it wasn’t long before we had an electric pump on the water well, a pressure pump to pressure water to the house. Of course, the first thing was the lights; we didn’t have to light the old coal oil lamps. That was the first and most noticeable thing: we had electric lights. Then, as time went on, we had fans and different things like this for conveniences to keep the house cool.
J. Klimitchek: Another thing that was real important was getting an electric washing machine. Our family had had a gasoline powered ringer-type washing machine, but then soon after getting electricity, we got an electric ringer-type washing machine. That was important to the ladies of the house.
Ingram: Prior to that time, I’m sure it was the old washboard and fifty gallon tub.
J. Klimitchek: Right. Many families in the area were depending on the wash pots and wash boards, rubbing clothes.
Ingram: As late at 1949?
J. Klimitchek: Right! We were among the few in our neighborhood that had a gasoline washing machine. And also among the few in the area that had the coal oil refrigerator. Kerosene refrigerator. Most people in our area did not have them.
R. Klimitchek: I might go ahead and mention in the latter part of ’59, we decided to build a new house here at Ezzell. The first thing we did was go up and talk to Doyle at GVEC about an all-electric home. We had power here, a light electric service to our water well, which we put here probably in 1958. But before we built our house, we made arrangements for an all-electric home. I remember Doyle Hines doing the electrical planning. Since then, Bob Campion has done a lot of that work. But, at that time, we had wall heaters, automatic electric-type heaters in the wall. We still have an all-electric home. In 1974, we added on some more to the home and added a heat pump; we still have our wall heaters. Just in case we may want more heat in one room than in others, we use our wall heaters. Up to this point, I don’t believe we have been out of power over probably five times any length of time. Right after we built and moved into our house in January of 1960, we had snow and were out of power for about five hours. I believe that’s when Doyle and some of GVEC people came down to check on us. Since then, 1984, around Christmas time, we were out of power again. But, very, very few times have we been out of power out here in this rural area, even though we’re out this far.
J. Klimitchek: The longest time we were without power was during [Hurricane] Carla in 1961. We lost power around 11:30 p.m. the night the storm blew through here and were without until sometime in the mid-afternoon of the next day.
Ingram: So their service record has been impressive?
J. Klimitchek: Their service record, I would say, is outstanding.
Ingram: What do you think of the relationship that you have with GVEC? For example, their management, their linesman, maintenance personnel. What kind of relationship have you had with them? I knew you hit on it.
R. Klimitchek: Yes, we’ve had a very good relationship. It seems like there’s no problem to get someone to take care of the service in our area. I was with the school board. Along somewhere in the late sixties or seventies, we put in heating and cooling units at the Ezzell School, all-electric. And Bob Campion came out and measured all of those things and recommended the units that we needed there for that. And those units are still in use at that school. They’re using the same units that we had put in. We were on an information member committee, Joyce and I, for a few years. During that time, we were with GVEC’s management people more than any other time because we had regular meetings. GVEC’s people were very good—very accommodating and understanding. I really appreciate doing business with the people at GVEC.
Ingram: You get the monthly newsletter, the GVEC Review. Is it informative? Does it furnish you any information of use to you?
J. Klimitchek: Yes, it does. It’s a very good magazine.
Ingram: In what respects?
J. Klimitchek: It tells you about the happenings of GVEC. What they’re trying to do. And Doyle writes an article in there each month. With the price squeeze the last few years, he tries to keep the membership informed of what they’re doing and how they’re trying to keep abreast of things.
R. Klimitchek: I was just noticing in the last Review where he’s handing a medal to a metal structure company manager over at Seguin. So, all this information is good, and then he keeps us posted on the different board of directors. For instance, over here in area one, Mr. Nollkamper is our representative. And different things that come up. And I think the price squeeze—he’s showing how he’s trying to keep us on top of all that.
Ingram: Are you a participant in the load management program?
R. Klimitchek: Yes, sir. The hot water heater and the air conditioning unit.
Ingram: Is it beneficial to you? What do you think of it?
R. Klimitchek: I haven’t missed the electricity but one time. One time, the heat pump was off; I don’t know when they cut it off and on. So, I don’t know. If it’s kept our price down, we’re all for it. It hasn’t hurt us any.
Ingram: How long have you been on the load management program?
J. Klimitchek: Since they first started it.
R. Klimitchek: Our heat pump has been on it; this is probably the second summer, I guess.
J. Klimitchek: And the water heater was on it before that.
R. Klimitchek: Yes, the water heater was the first item and then our heat pump unit. So, something like a year or a year and a half, with the two items on it together.
Ingram: GVEC management is considering going into other diverse services such as satellite TV, garbage collection, sewage; are you familiar with these, and do you participate in any of these extra services?
R. Klimitchek: No, I’ve read a little about the satellite business but I hadn’t heard anything about the sewage; I’m not up on that too well. I don’t know what the plans on that really are.
Ingram: So, they haven’t sent you out any really detailed information as far as—
J. Klimitchek: Not any detailed information as of yet.
R. Klimitchek: The only thing we’ve had is what we’ve read out of the Review, and if I were to comment on it, I might say that the satellite business might sort have fit into the electric Co-op. As far as I’m concerned, somebody would have to convince me that an electric co-op needs to get into the sewage and garbage business, but the satellite business I can see. It’s in electronics; it is a related interest.
Ingram: What do you do for television out here?
J. Klimitchek: We have our own antennae.
Ingram: So, if they were to come through with a satellite television-type system, it would be very beneficial to you.
J. Klimitchek: Some people in the area have dishes, but we haven’t invested in one as of yet. They’re quite expensive, I understand.
R. Klimitchek: When we talk about all the things that use electricity, it would take me a while to write down all the conveniences we have right now with electricity: TV, microwave, even our camp house over across the river. GVEC has furnished the power over there also, the water well and all the little things that we already have in there. Things we just take for granted.
J. Klimitchek: The things of yesterday that were considered luxuries, we consider them necessities today. I’d sure hate to go back to that kerosene lamp.
Ingram: The member services division offers advice on how to save energy. Has this service been useful to you, and in what respects have you utilized these services?
J. Klimitchek: Well, when we leave for the day, we cut our heat pump back, raise the temperature on it. We leave for a few days on vacation, and we’ll cut it back. We’ve gotten to where we cut the water heater off if we leave for a week or ten days. No one is here to use it, so why let it run?
R. Klimitchek: I think, too, that we’re talking about is home insulation services and all this type of thing. Yes, we’ve made use of it. In fact, Bob Campion has been out to our place more than once. He did a vacuum test here about two summers ago and told us what we needed to do. I did some of those things and laid the list aside and haven’t done the rest of them because I’m satisfied as it is.
Ingram: So, in other words, they do on-site inspection services that will allow you, the consumer, to measure ways that you use electricity.
R. Klimitchek: Correct, and they also have a service to come out and check our heat pump. I’ve had that done. I don’t know whether it’s been every summer, but I know I’ve had them out here twice for that service. So, yes, we utilize our services that are offered.
Ingram: Have you ever received electricity from another utility?
R. Klimitchek: Yes, we did, when we lived in La Ward. We received electricity from Jackson Electric Co-op.
Ingram: La Ward is down near Port Lavaca.
R. Klimitchek: Yes, it’s about thirty miles northeast of Port Lavaca.
Ingram: When was this?
R. Klimitchek: This was in the years of 1953 through 1958.
Ingram: How did their services compare with GVEC?
R. Klimitchek: We had no problems, but there we only had our lights and a few of the appliances; we didn’t have an electric home or anything like that. But we had no complaints and the electric bills; I don’t recall them being any different from where we’re at now. Also, January in 1959, we moved to Hallettsville, and we had electricity from San Bernard Electric Co-op until we moved out to our home here. From January 1959 to January of 1960, we bought power from San Bernard Electric Co-op. We had no problems with them, but we weren’t familiar with who ran the place or anything else. We just got a bill and paid them.
J. Klimitchek: But it was for only one year, a short period of time.
Ingram: In 1949, you lived in this particular area, when GVEC moved into this area. You then moved down to the La Ward area and used Jackson County Electric Co-op, and you moved up to the Hallettsville area and used San Bernard and then moved down here to Ezzell, and you’ve been on GVEC since 1958.
R. Klimitchek: Correct, all-electric home, and we’ve been very satisfied. People ask me when I’m going to get a wood heater, and I say, Well, look, when somebody starts carrying the wood in for me and some way to keep that smoke out of the house, I might get a wood heater. But as long as electric bills are as reasonable as they are, I’m not going to fool with wood. Man, it’s a lot of work to cut that stuff and put in the heaters. So, we’re real pleased up to now with our all-electric home.
J. Klimitchek: I might say we do have two small butane tanks, a butane burner and a butane heater, in case the power would be out anytime, and that way we could heat a small area of our home and be able to cook.
R. Klimitchek: That’s only for emergency, and I don’t think we’ve used that butane burner but one time. I do have a 3750-watt generator that I have to put to the water well when the power is off for any length of time to keep our water system from freezing up. The water lines are in the attic and will burst; I’ve used that two times since we’ve been here on the water well. It’s just a standby generator.
Ingram: Do you recall the big snow and ice storm that we have back in January of 1985? How did that affect you with your service with GVEC?
R. Klimitchek: I don’t recall any big problems with that, or whether we had any power off. We had power off one winter here, but I thought that was the winter of ’84, maybe. Right around Christmas or New Year’s Day. January of ’85, I don’t recall. I don’t think we had a problem.
J. Klimitchek: Our power did not go off at that time. We had a daughter in San Marcos at the time who rushed back to San Marcos so she could go sledding down the hills with the snow and see what it was all about. We didn’t have much snow here.
Ingram: Is electricity vital to your life, or do you consider it a luxury?
J. Klimitchek: I’d have to say we consider it vital now. Maybe when we first got it, we considered it a luxury compared to what we had prior to that. I’d sure hate to go back to kerosene now or wood-burning cook stoves and all that.
R. Klimitchek: I consider it very vital, and it is also a luxury. There are lots of things we could do without that I call luxury if we didn’t have electricity. But, as far as it being vital, I have an electric welder that plugs into a circuit. Plus all the other things we have around here that we take for granted every day. So, it’s both vital and a luxury.
Ingram: In other words, it’s changed your life drastically since 1949. In 1949, you wouldn’t have your welder or your freezer, your electric range, your microwave, etcetera.
R. Klimitchek: Those things weren’t even introduced to the area then; they were unheard of. All of these things came—it’s caused a whole new revolution of appliances being built, economy. When electricity got out in these areas, it was just something that really—in other words, back thirty or forty years ago, a lot of people lived in cities because of the electricity and conveniences; they wouldn’t live out in the county. But once electricity was out here, we live the same in the country as people do in the cities. So, it really has improved the rural areas.
J. Klimitchek: I might say this, when the power goes off, there are very few things I can do in the home. I can’t sew, I can’t use my vacuum cleaner, I can’t cook a meal—all the appliances that I have, they’re all electric. So I’m immobilized as far as doing something in the home when the power does go off.
R. Klimitchek: Back several years ago, one or two of our six children, the power was off one evening about dark, and those children were so dependent upon electricity that when the power went off and it was dark around here, two or three of them cried. Wondering what’s going on here. That was the first time they had seen this kind of situation. They had grown so used to electricity. Us, we were without it at one time and we grew used to it, and it’s hard on us to do without it, but those children—
Ingram: But you could make do?
J. Klimitchek: Right!
R. Klimitchek: They thought it was something actually happening serious. The power was; we didn’t have any lighting.
Ingram: It was a catastrophic occurrence to them because they had never experienced being without [lights].
R. Klimitchek: Sharon or Linda, one of them cried.
J. Klimitchek: I keep one of the old-type kerosene lamps sitting right in there in case the power goes off, we can go light it. And he has some gasoline lanterns, too.
R. Klimitchek: Very seldom we use them for that, though.
J. Klimitchek: Really, I think it’s good for the power to go off once in a while, it makes us stop and think and appreciate electricity.
Ingram: Okay, this concludes basically the structured questions that I have. Do you have any further questions that you would like to ask me in reference to the interview, or do you have anything that you would like to add, pertinent to the interview itself?
J. Klimitchek: I would like to say that GVEC, the management and everything, are super. The associations that we’ve had with the company; we feel like it’s a fine company with fine employees.
R. Klimitchek: I always like the statement that they use: “member-owned co-op.” It makes me feel like I have a part in it. That’s the reason I feel like joining the load management program or anything else they ask us to join. I really think its super, and it’s got super management. Even Mr. Hallmark, every time I see him I talk with him, he keeps up with the GVEC Review real good. So, we think a lot of the Co-op. They are caring people.
Ingram: Well, I certainly appreciate your time, and I know it’s valuable. When you’re retired, you want to enjoy one another. Thanks for having me into your home, and on behalf of the department I extend our cordial thanks and appreciation for you allowing us to tape this interview and have you become a part of history.
End of interview