Krysten Newlon, the marketing and communications specialist at KREMC, Warsaw, wrote a children’s book for people in the community. Her goal was to assure children and their parents they are not alone when their electricity goes out. Mike the lineman and KREMC are always on the job. Photo provided by Krysten Newlon.

By Laurie Lechlitner
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — “The Kosciusko County REMC is not just a company that supplies residents with electricity,” stated Kyrsten Newlon, Warsaw. “We’re interested in the growth, education and youth of our community.

“That’s one of the reasons I wrote and illustrated the children’s picture book, ‘Mike the Lineman and the Big Storm.’”

Newlon celebrated her first-year anniversary at KREMC this past February. She’s the marketing and communications specialist.

Her children’s book is about Mike, an actual lineman for KREMC, and his trusty robot, Geo. It’s written for the children of Kosciusko County, assuring them they are not alone in the dark when the lights go out.

“Luna and Charlie are two children who go through an electrical storm. Their power goes out. But Mike the Lineman and Geo come to the rescue. Mike is busy in his REMC bucket truck restoring the power after the storm is over. Geo supplies the children with a safety checklist and ideas on fun things to do while waiting for their power to come back on.

“The children make a blanket fort and play shadow puppets on the wall with the help of a flashlight. On Mike’s Outage Kit, families are encouraged to have emergency supplies available, such as nonperishable food and warm blankets.”

Newlon has donated many books to members of the community. She’s also distributed copies to Operation Read. “It’s a fun book. And we want to teach children that a lightning storm can be a positive experience when they are prepared ahead of time.”

Writing comes easy to Newlon. “Although this is my first children’s book, I’ve written some fiction novels in the past. I wrote a trilogy in high school. This children’s book didn’t take very long to write. However, the illustrations took me several months.” The book was finished late November 2022.

Newlon enjoys dabbling in digital art and graphic design. “I drew all the illustrations in the book on Adobe Illustrator.” This children’s book was written for a specific audience. The characters are based on real people in the cooperative community.

A journalism and communication major at Grace College in Winona Lake, Newlon went to work for KREMC shortly after graduation. “I love my job. I work on our blogs and social media. I also write and photograph for our magazine, ‘Indiana Connection.’ I love reaching out to the KREMC community. It’s opened up many opportunities for me and I’ve met some very interesting people.”

She’s also involved in Operation Round Up. “I love seeing firsthand the possibilities that happen when grants are given out in the community. I see the heart of the residents.”

Time pressure is her biggest challenge. “We have many great ideas at KREMC. But we’re a small team. It takes time to bring quality ideas to fruition.”

Newlon is also a photographer. “I enjoy doing engagement photos, family shoots and senior pictures. My goal is for people to forget they’re being photographed so their true personalities shine through.”

She shares her home with one of her college friends, Carolina Keegan. “I have some family members in Michigan. My sister lives in Florida.”

She concluded, “Empathy is very important when we write books for children. We need to be aware of their feelings in a particular situation, placing ourselves in their shoes.”