Six electric co-op magazines share top honors for a Route 66 centennial feature package
Sept. 10, 2026
What could be more cooperative than six leading electric co-op magazines deciding to travel the same road—together—to produce a keepsake feature spread celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66?
How about those same magazines sharing top honors, as a group, in the Wild Card category of the 2026 Willies Awards?
The magazines, Illinois Country Living, Rural Missouri, Kansas Country Living, Oklahoma Living, Texas Co-op Power and Ruralite, shared the cost of a writer and illustrator while tailoring the Route 66 content for geographically distinct magazine audiences.
Rural Missouri Editor Sara Schafer led the effort, scheduling brainstorming meetings and finding the writer and illustrator to bring the team’s vision to life. The idea grew from a casual conversation among editors a year ago at the summer National Electric Cooperative Statewide Editors Association meeting. Why not share costs, creative energy, and, as it turns out, recognition?
In true cooperative fashion, the six magazines entered the package jointly in the Wild Card category of this year’s Willies, a national contest annually recognizing the best magazine work in the electric co-op industry.
“The 100th anniversary of Route 66 was such a perfect topic for a team project,” Schafer said. “From the first brainstorming call, I knew this package was going to be fun. We took our ideas to a fantastic illustrator and writer, and they created pure magic. I loved seeing how each publication took the same pieces and made them fit so naturally into their pages. It was a great example of what can happen when our electric co-op magazines collaborate.”
The feature struck a chord with readers, who sent photos and shared their own Route 66 memories. The response—and Willies recognition—show the road to success is indeed cooperative.
This year’s Willies Awards were the most competitive ever, with just shy of 400 entries. See all the winning work at https://sea.coop/willies-awards/.
