On Feb. 28, 2023, Victory Electric honored Gary Gillespie for his retirement after 11 years of service on the Board of Trustees. Megan Evans has joined the board and will serve the remaining two years of Gillespie’s three-year term as the trustee for District 5. She will be representing and advocating for the Copeland and Montezuma areas.

Pat Morse, board president, expressed his enthusiasm for Evans’ appointment. She will share her perspective as a small business owner and mother of three boys in her new role as a member of the board of trustees.

“The Victory Board is excited to have Megan Evans as our newest board member. Megan is a lifelong southwest Kansas resident, owns her own business and is involved in rural agriculture through their family farm. She will bring new perspectives and ideas to the board as Victory moves into the future,” he said.

Not only did Gillespie nominate Evans as his replacement on the board, but he also sold her his Copeland crop insurance business last year after previously hiring her as an agent.

“Megan is a great young lady, and her character and integrity are two of the reasons I sold her the business and believed that she would be a great trustee for District 5. But more than that, she is just a good person. She understands that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do,” he said. He added that she is well known and respected in the community, which will serve her well on the board.

Gillespie said he values all the people he had the opportunity to develop relationships with while serving as a board member and plans to keep in contact with them in retirement.

“There are so many great people at Victory and in the Copeland area that I have developed lifelong friendships with, and we will continue to stay in touch,” he said.

He and his wife, Kelly, have moved north of Manhattan, Kansas, to a cabin they built and formerly used for family hunting and fishing retreats. They look forward to living closer to family; spending more time with their parents, children and grandchildren; and attending Kansas State University athletic events.

“For 11 years Gary has been a well-regarded member of the Victory Board of Directors. His business background and insight has been invaluable as the board and Victory continue to provide our member-owners with safe, reliable, affordable power. We wish Gary only the best in the future,” Morse said.

Evans said she believes it’s important for everyone to serve on a board or committee at some point and get involved, so she jumped at the opportunity to take her turn by serving on Victory Electric’s board of trustees.

“I feel like it’s what we’re here to do — to serve,” she said. “It takes a big group of people to run committees and different things in the community.”

One of her goals as a trustee is advocating for more education so that the younger generation can understand how power grids work and learn about the complexity of electricity. Many kids and even adults don’t think about electricity beyond simply flipping on a light switch and having power, she said. “Even from a very young age in the schools, they need to understand how your power gets there.”