Pioneer Electric Cooperative members elected three new Board of Trustee members at its annual meeting held recently.

Thomas C. Thompson of Forest Home replace incumbent Jimmy Gardner in District 1, Tom Duncan replaces Ted Tindal in District 4, and John Henry of Dallas County was elected to replace Hugh Strickland in District 7.

Both Gardner and Strickland were longtime trustees, serving for 17 and 20 years, respectively. Tindal served four years.

The three new trustees begin serving their terms immediately, according to Cleve Poole, in-house counsel for Pioneer Electric Co-Op.

Poole said Pioneer was &#8220extremely pleased with the turnout” for Saturday's meeting.

&#8220Everything went well and flowed very smoothly,” he said. &#8220We want co-op members to attend the annual meeting and want them to participate. That's the nature of a cooperative.”

Poole said 144 members signed-in at the annual meeting, held at the Greenville High School Auditorium. He said 1,450 members voted in the election, but less than 20 voted in person at the meeting. Those who did attend, he said, received excellent door prizes, including Joe Buffalo and Dorothy Martin who won a pair of 37-inch televisions.

&#8220We'd like to thank everyone who participated in the election process,” said Poole.

Margaret Pierce, President of REMAC - formed as a watchdog organization by a group of co-op members three years ago - described the annual meeting as a &#8220refreshing change” from previous ones. The meeting also confirmed her confidence in Pioneer General Manager Steven Harmon, hired by the co-op in January.

&#8220He did a splendid job,” said Pierce. &#8220He presented an in-depth presentation that was clearly understood by everyone there. He's what we needed to get things going in the right direction. He's a super general manager.”

Pierce said Harmon outlined a strategic plan to the membership that would help Pioneer recover from the excessive debt accumulated over the past few years.

She also said the three new trustee members would be a &#8220real asset.”

&#8220We're excited to say the least,” she said. &#8220The members who voted spoke loud and clear.”