Hilary Wittler, left, and Sarah Sprague pose with Rep. Aaron Schock outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Hilary Wittler of Mendon and Sarah Sprague of Plainville represented Adams Electric Cooperative June 12-19 during the annual “Youth to Washington” tour in Washington, D.C.

This event, sponsored by the electric and telephone cooperatives across the country, began 50 years ago to introduce youth to our government and to cooperatives. There were 65 students from Illinois and 1,532 nationwide selected to make the trip.

In addition to the Capitol, they visited Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington National Cathedral, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the World War II Memorial, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the National Archives, the Newseum and a number of other historical sites.

First of all, congratulations to Hilary and Sarah. I know firsthand that this was a trip they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Thirty-five years ago, I was a high school junior, and our electric cooperative sent out notices about its contest. Students were required to write an essay on a predetermined topic, which would be judged by a panel that would select eight finalists.

Those eight would be invited to the cooperative’s annual dinner. They would be required to read their essays and answer questions about rural cooperatives from a panel in front of everybody. Four winners would get to make the trip to Washington, D.C.

Of course, being a busy 17-year-old in bustling Macon, Mo., (population 5,310), I didn’t think I had time to write an essay. My mom kept urging me to enter. So did Ruth Bradshaw, a high school English and literature teacher who had a profound knack for getting the best out of me — either with praise when I did something well or with a verbal kick in the rear when I tried to skate by.

So, in an effort to get both my mom and Mrs. Bradshaw off my back, I sat down and wrote an essay the weekend before they were due. (On an electric typewriter I had been given for my 16th birthday, for those who have never used one. I don’t miss whiteout.) My mom was happy, Mrs. Bradshaw was happy and I was happy that they weren’t making me feel like I was letting them down anymore.

A few weeks later, I found out I was one of the eight finalists. I hadn’t planned on that. Now I had to stand in front of hundreds of people, read the essay and answer questions. The goal, of course, was not to embarrass myself.

I ended up being one of 63 high school juniors from Missouri selected to make the trip. It meant taking my first ride in an airplane and spending a week in Washington, D.C., which, for a history buff like me, was right up there with going to the World Series in 1967 and 1968.

This was 1974, about two months before Richard Nixon resigned as president, so Washington was abuzz with the Watergate inquiry. I still have a poster I bought on a street corner that shows Nixon and Spiro Agnew waving to the crowd from the podium of the Republican National Convention. Of course, the artist had painted prison caps and shirts on both. (This was before Photoshop.) It’s framed and hanging in my basement.

We toured the White House, the Capitol and the Smithsonian. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and World War II Memorial. We saw Arlington National Cemetery and the Federal Treasury. We had breakfast with senators and representatives. We went to George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, we strolled through Old Alexandria and we took a boat ride on the Potomac. We drove by the Watergate Hotel. We met other kids from across the country.

Business has taken me to Washington several times in the years since, and I have had the opportunity to see things that did not exist in 1974. But memories of that week more than three decades ago are still with me.

I hope Hilary and Sarah can say the same thing in the years to come.