GVEC Bosanko, Dan and Marie - October 2, 1987
Interview with Dan and Frances (Merle) Bosanko
Interviewer: Sarah Ezzell
Transcriber: Sarah Ezell
Date of Interview: October 2, 1987
Location: Mr. and Mrs. Bosanko’s Home, Stockdale, TX
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Begin Tape 1, Side 1
Sarah Ezzell: This is Sarah Ezzell, and today is October 2, 1987. I am conducting an oral interview with Mr. and Mrs. Dan Bosanko in their home in Stockdale at Route 1, Box 49, and it’s 5:00.
Okay. Do you understand the conditions of the interview and the release form?
Dan Bosanko: Yeah, I understand that.
Ezzell: Okay. Well, I’ll get started on the questions. How long have you been in the GVEC [Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative] service area?
D. Bosanko: We’ve lived here over thirty years in this one house, but Merle’s lived here all her life.
Merle Bosanko: Mm-hmm.
D. Bosanko: I’ve lived off and on all of my life here.
Ezzell: Have you? Okay. Have you always been subscribers to GVEC? Has that been your—
D. Bosanko: That’s been the only sort of electricity we’ve had.
Ezzell: You’ve had? Okay, well, what do you think of the relationship you’ve had with GVEC?
M. Bosanko: Been real good.
Ezzell: Has it? And you’ve been treated with courtesy?
D. Bosanko: They’ve always been very nice.
Ezzell: Is there anything in particular that makes them stand out as being particularly accommodating?
D. Bosanko: Well, we’ve had a close relationship with GVEC for a lot of years because, to begin with, Merle’s father was a director—
M. Bosanko: He was one of the first ones.
D. Bosanko: —of GVEC, then after her father went off the board, why, my grandfather became a director, and my uncle finished his unexpired term and is still a director of GVEC.
Ezzell: Okay.
D. Bosanko: So we’ve got a close relationship and know a lot of their employees and the managers and what have you.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
M. Bosanko: When it first started, my daddy and his grandmother went around to everybody to get them to sign up. Then it was [the] REA [Rural Electric Administration].
Ezzell: Oh, I see. Okay, are you familiar with the GVEC Review? The newspaper? (Bosankos nod.)
Well, do you feel like it provides you with useful information about the area and the Cooperative?
D. Bosanko: I feel like it does. It’s read by probably all the members that get a copy.
Ezzell: Yeah, and it—
D. Bosanko: —Pretty much brings you up to date what they’re doing, if they’re putting in a power plant somewhere—anything they’re doing, it brings you up to date.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. Do you feel like its informative enough?
D. Bosanko: I feel like it is.
Ezzell: Okay. Are you a participant in the load management program with GVEC?
M. Bosanko: Our hot water heater—
Ezzell: Yes.
M. Bosanko: Yes, that’s all we have because we don’t have the air conditionings, we just have the window fan—
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
M. Bosanko: —but our hot water heater is on that.
Ezzell: Okay. Well, what do you think of that program?
M. Bosanko: It’s fine because I don’t ever notice any difference in it.
Ezzell: You don’t notice the difference between the time before they—
M. Bosanko: I mean, I can’t tell whenever it, the hot water—you know, off or on—
Ezzell: Can you, have you noticed the difference as far as the charges; has it lowered your cost?
M. Bosanko: I hadn’t noticed.
D. Bosanko: It may have, but our electric bill fluctuates some anyway, so it’s hard to tell whether that’s the cause or not.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. But do you think, in general, do you think it’s a good idea?
D. Bosanko: Sure! If they’re saving money for the Guadalupe Valley, I think it’s a good idea.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. The management says that GVEC may offer things in the future, such as satellite TV, sewage, and garbage services. What do you think of GVEC expanding into these areas?
D. Bosanko: Don’t know about the sewage and garbage service. I think the satellite TV might be well received. The sewage and garbage, that’s a pretty mind-boggling thing because they couldn’t provide sewage out here in the country; maybe in cities and towns where they have a lot of service, such as, I think, over in the Schertz/Cibolo area that they pretty well provide electricity for that area. They might try in those areas—
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
D. Bosanko: —but it wouldn’t, it would be too costly, I think it would be prohibitive to try it, to service our area with garbage pickup and sewage.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. You think that would be too much.
D. Bosanko: Yeah, that would just be too, too expensive.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. How do you take care of that now? Is there a—
D. Bosanko: Well, we were on septic tanks as far as sewage goes, we have our septic tanks. Garbage? We haul it off down the pasture, and we burn our trash and dump the stuff down the gully out here.
Ezzell: Yeah, so it might be a little more convenient? (D. Bosanko laughs.) Let’s see. What in your mind is the proper function of an electric utility?
D. Bosanko: I don’t—
Ezzell: In other words, what do you think of it expanding into different areas, such as satellite or—
D. Bosanko: Well, I don’t know. They’ve expanded their electricity [into] so many different directions. I didn’t know they were planning on getting in these other areas.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
Bosanko: —thinking maybe a whole new ballgame if they try sewage and garbage pickup. They’ll probably encounter some other problems when they start that, as far as delivering any kind of electrical services. I think GVEC does a good job, and I think that they’re well respected in their field.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
D. Bosanko: We feel like they’re doing a good job. I don’t know how we’d operate without them now; we’re so used to all the conveniences that electricity brings into the house.
Ezzell: Yeah.
D. Bosanko: And outside—using all kind of electrical appliances out, saws and—I’ve got a—some people have their generators; I’ve got an air-compressor that I use every day, just about.
Ezzell: Yeah.
D. Bosanko: When you’ve got as many vehicles as we have, there’s always flat tires and have a electrical air compressor and—
M. Bosanko: And your welding set.
D. Bosanko: Welding and all sorts of things.
Ezzell: Yeah. Member services division offers advice on how to save energy. Has this service been useful to you?
D. Bosanko: I don’t practice saving energy, I practice using it.
Ezzell: (Laughs) Oh, I understand that.
D. Bosanko: [Of] course, our air conditioning is a window unit. We don’t have central air, and M. usually doesn’t turn it on on cool days, but in the summer, when it gets pretty—
D. and M. Bosanko: (Together) We just turn it on—
M. Bosanko: —at noon, then at night, we cut it off, and we’re lucky enough to have a good breeze here, so very few nights we run it during the summer—but it’s nice to have it if you need it.
Ezzell: Yeah, I understand that. So, really you haven’t taken advantage of those services that they have on saving energy?
D. Bosanko: Well, other than this hot water thing they have, that’s an energy-saving service.
M. Bosanko: That’s the only thing we have.
D. Bosanko: [Of] course, they did have—they sponsored a program [where people had] insulation put in their ceilings, and we did that through GVEC.
Ezzell: Have you—I think you said you’d never received electricity from another utility?
D. Bosanko: That’s right.
Ezzell: Even when you were young and in this area, you—
D. Bosanko: There’s been no other utility to service this area.
Ezzell: Oh, is that right? I see. How does your attitude towards electricity now compare with your attitude towards electricity as a teen?
M. Bosanko: We just couldn’t do without it.
Ezzell: Yeah. Is there any difference—well, do you take it more for granted now than you would’ve as a teen?
D. Bosanko: I think so, but I can remember when we didn’t have electricity in the house and had to carry a lamp from one room to the other. You just flip a switch now, and you’ve got electricity, and you do take it for granted now. And heating the house and—they have all electric houses and electric ranges and what-have-you—
M. Bosanko: Well, I don’t know how people used to read with the old lamps.
D. Bosanko: Very slowly.
M. Bosanko: You can’t see anything. I don’t know people used—I guess that’s why they went to bed early, couldn’t see.
D. Bosanko: I know the heating and cooking in my grandmother’s house, we heated the house with two fireplaces, and a wood cook-stove would heat the kitchen, and hot water was a reservoir in the wood cook-stove; as you burned wood, you’d heat the water within the reservoir. Then you’d get it in a bucket and carry it to the bathtub. Usually, you wouldn’t have very much either.
Ezzell: Yeah, you wouldn’t want to bother—
D. Bosanko: So, it’s something that now we take for granted, and I guess it’s probably one things that we may fuss about the cost, but we sure wouldn’t fuss about it if they threatened to take it away from us.
M. Bosanko: Well, I don’t think our electricity bill’s that bad. In fact, I’m just glad we’ve got it.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. So, in other words, electricity’s pretty vital to your—
D. Bosanko: Certainly is! You Bet!
Ezzell: And what about your work? Do you—in your work, do you use electricity?
D. Bosanko: We have computers and, of course, all the lighting system, heating system, air-conditioning—I work in a bank, and that’s real important. We just couldn’t do without it. When electricity’s off, we’re out—we’re down. Alarm system’s off and everything else.
Ezzell: You’re in a touchy situation then when it—
D. Bosanko: [Of] course, GVEC doesn’t provide that electricity, but it is an important thing.
Ezzell: What about here—out here?
D. Bosanko: (Laughs) When our electricity goes off, we start calling the director and wanting to find out where it’s off, what’s wrong, when’s it going to come back on.
M. Bosanko: Really, you can’t clean the house, you can’t do the laundry, you can’t do anything—sew—cook—
D. Bosanko: If you ask me, I think it’s here to stay.
Ezzell: Oh, I’ll agree with you on that. What kind of electrical appliances did you have when you first got electricity?
M. Bosanko: Like when I was a little girl?
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
M. Bosanko: We didn’t have any, and I can remember Daddy sold a load of cows, took ‘em and sold ‘em and brought us back a radio, and boy, was we thrilled to death, and then our neighbors would come in and listen to it. I can just see that radio now; we was so proud of it. That was the first appliance, you know, anything we had. And then, I guess we got the washing machine, the old wringer-type washing machine.
D. Bosanko: I believe the main thing—when we first got electricity was having the electric lights. The lighting was the main thing. We didn’t think about a lot of the electrical appliances that’re here now. Just having the electric lights was a big thing.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. I’ll bet it made a lot of difference. Well, I’ve already ask you, electricity has defined your work environment. I mean, obviously, in a bank you couldn’t really do without—do you feel like it’s made it more efficient?
D. Bosanko: Oh, yeah. Sure. You can do things now with the different computers they have, and it’s just made things a lot more efficient. [Of] course, you got a lot more data that you can have at your disposal. And you can handle so many more items with the sophisticated machinery they have. Proof machines—at the one time—[of] course, this is electrically operated, but we had what they called a wreckerdat(??) machine. When we first started taking pictures of checks, you’d have to take each individual check and photograph the face of it and turn it over, by hand, and photograph the reverse side of it. But now, you just drop a stack of checks in the hopper, and it just runs them through just at a very high speed and photographs them instantly.
Ezzell: Hmm. Is that right?
D. Bosanko: So, that’s just a updated model of the original one, but it’s electricity that’s made this all possible.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. Talking about GVEC again, do you believe that’s it’s more consumer- or agriculturally-oriented?
D. Bosanko: Oh, probably, probably now it’s more consumer-oriented. I think, at the beginning, probably agriculture-wise because the communities they serviced were, you know, rural. Rural electrification was what it was all about. And, of course, now some of the areas they service are highly-populated, and they’re trying to get the consumer what he wants at as cheap a price they can, and they’re doing a good job, we think. And, [of] course, there again agriculture-wise, I think there’s going to be fewer people in agriculture. That’s one reason I believe that GVEC be more consumer-oriented. But they’re still taking care of their agriculture customers. That’s appreciated.
Ezzell: In your life, on what has electricity had the greatest impact?
D. Bosanko: Just everyday living, it’s changed everything. We can sit in here and turn the TV on and watch news from all over the world, watch programs—things that you used to travel to town to go to a movie, here you watch them at home.
Ezzell: Did you ever think it would come to that?
D. Bosanko: No, sure didn’t. I sure like this because you can run to the icebox and get you snacks in-between (laughs).
Ezzell: I sure understand that. Well, are there any other comments you’d like to make about GVEC, anything more you’d like to tell me, maybe about your family’s relationship with them?
D. Bosanko: We’re proud of GVEC because I think one reason [is that] we saw its beginning. We know it had a difficult time getting started, and through the work and effort of everyone that lived in the country, their support in getting it started. It’s more than just an electric company to us because we’ve been involved, our parents and grandparents—
M. Bosanko: Like I said, his grandmother rode her horse around to different ones, you know, to get them to sign up for the electricity, and my daddy worked on it. Then he went around with Mr. Rufus Young wiring the houses for electricity, so we kind of started out with it.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. And what about your grandfather and your father, you said were directors?
D. Bosanko: My grandfather was, and Merle’s father was, and now my uncle is.
M. Bosanko: I guess my daddy was one of the first ones. And then after Mr. Johnny—probably took on after he did, Dan?
D. Bosanko: I don’t remember when my grandfather went on, but it might have been at your dad’s termination. His term as director. I know my grandfather was director in 1952, I don’t know—just when he became a director, and then, of course, my uncle, which would be my grandfather’s son, he finished his unexpired term and has been one ever since, which is—it’s been [a] long time.
M. Bosanko: You’ve probably interviewed Johnny Lorenz?
Ezzell: I believe my friend has.
D. Bosanko: Well, they live just down the road from us.
Ezzell: He’s your uncle?
M. Bosanko: That’s his uncle.
Ezzell: And what was your grandfather’s name?
D. Bosanko: He was John Lorenz, Sr. John Lawrence, they called him.
Ezzell: I see. And what was your father’s name?
M. Bosanko: Emory Montgomery.
Ezzell: Emory Montgomery. So you’ve really had a close connection with them, and you’ve probably seen parts of it that other people really haven’t, being so closely related.
M. Bosanko: And when they started it, they had their meetings in Cost.
Ezzell: Yeah, that’s where it was first established.
M. Bosanko: And then they moved on down to Gonzales.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. Well, do you have any questions you’d like to ask me about any of this, any of the interview?
D. Bosanko: Unh-uh.
Ezzell: Well, are there any more comments, I’m interested in your—
D. Bosanko: I really don’t think so. We’re glad we have electricity, and I’d sure hate to live in an area in the country now that doesn’t have it, after being used to having it.
Ezzell: Yeah. One other thing, do you have any friends that are serviced by other electric services?
D. Bosanko: Yeah. We have people that live in the city of Stockdale, and I think Floresville Electric Light and Power services that area.
Ezzell: Mm-hmm.
M. Bosanko: Well, they do LaVernia area—
D. Bosanko: And they have—I think GVEC has part of LaVernia and Floresville Electric Light and Power has part of LaVernia.
Ezzell: Do you know anything about how their service differs from yours, or do you have any—
D. Bosanko: No, I really don’t know. No, they service different areas and, as far as a difference in cost, I’m not sure what the difference in cost—
Ezzell: Mm-hmm. And they’re always fairly quick about answering any questions you have or—
D. Bosanko: Yeah, and if the power does go out, why they usually have it back on pretty shortly. Doesn’t take very long.
M. Bosanko: You don’t realize it, but you’re just lost without electricity. Everywhere you turn—
D. Bosanko: Turn it off up at your dorm and see what happens.
Ezzell: And, you know, I’m sure you can really make the comparison since you have lived without it, and you can see what a change it’s made in your lives.
M. Bosanko: I know we could hardly wait to get a refrigerator that makes ice cubes.
Ezzell: Is that right?
M. Bosanko: You think back when you were a little girl, of the different things—
Ezzell: Which, I suppose, it’s both a luxury and a need, a necessity—
M. Bosanko: I guess I was about four when we got it, so I was pretty small.
D. Bosanko: I couldn’t remember just when electricity came through here. I thought it was somewhere about 1937 or ’38, something like that.
Ezzell: Yeah, I think GVEC first formed in ’37 or ’38.
D. Bosanko: Probably would be, if this was their fiftieth anniversary. I’m pretty sure my grandparents didn’t have electricity in the house that burned down. Then they built another house. It wasn’t long after that house was built that electricity was in the house—
M. Bosanko: Are you going all over the area that they service, or—?
Ezzell: Yeah, we’re getting consumers, just—GVEC gave us some names of people that might be interested in helping out, and we’re going around in the area and talking to people and getting their views on it. Well, that’s all the questions I have.
M. Bosanko: Don’t think we was very much help to you.
Ezzell: Oh, no, if you have anything more to add—if you can think of anything—
D. Bosanko: No, we have electricity down on the other farm. We have submergible pumps in the wells, [which] provide, pump water where [there] used to be the windmill pumping in the cistern, and gravity flow would come into your house, and we didn’t have a lot of water pressure. But electricity, like I said, it’s here to stay, and we sure are glad.
Ezzell: Okay.
End of interview