Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Participates in Touch-a-Truck Event at the Montessori School of Ft. Smith

6/1/2022

FT. SMITH, Arkansas (June 1, 2022) – Arkansas Oklahoma Gas (AOG) was honored to participate in the Touch-a-Truck event at the Montessori School of Ft. Smith held on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

About 100 students at the Montessori School of Ft. Smith had the chance to learn about and explore an AOG stopple truck. The stopple truck has a crane attached to the back of it and is used by AOG to help shut down the natural gas flow during emergency line operations.

AOG team members Chris English and Darrin Martin were on hand to demonstrate how the stopple truck works, explain what it does and why it’s such an important part of keeping our community safe. The event at the Montessori School of Ft. Smith offered AOG the chance to give children a hands-on learning experience about natural gas.

“AOG is dedicated to educating citizens of all ages. When we can provide knowledge of natural gas and our operations to children, it only enhances the safety of everyone in the communities we serve,” said Paul Peck, Fleet Manager at AOG. “Our hope is that this event inspires children to learn more about engineering, science and the people who operate those big trucks and machines that help make Ft. Smith the wonderful city it is.”

AOG was alongside the Ft. Smith Fire Department, as well as the Ft. Smith Police Department, giving students the unique opportunity to interact with the people who protect and serve our communities. AOG team members also cooked and served hot dogs for lunch.

Since 1969, The Montessori School of Fort Smith (formerly St. Scholastica Montessori School) has offered an unparalleled education. As the only Montessori school in the River Valley, and one of two in the entire state to either be accredited (Walnut Farm Montessori) or working towards accreditation (Step 6 of 10), we offer parents the opportunity to invest not only in their child’s education, but in their child.

Our talented faculty, nurturing environment, and commitment to the Montessori method of learning make us the school of choice for many families in the Fort Smith area. We offer consistent, quality education for children ages 3 years to 12 years.

AOG provides natural gas service to approximately 60,000 residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers in Arkansas and Oklahoma. We’ve been serving the residential and commercial customers in Fort Smith and the surrounding area with safe and reliable natural gas service for nearly 75 years.

Based in Fort Smith in the heart of the Arkoma Basin, this area is rich in natural gas production. That gives us the ability to access and transport natural gas produced from local wells. These local supplies, in combination with our ability to obtain natural gas from interstate pipelines, enable us to provide reliable natural gas service to all our customers.

In 2017, AOG joined a larger group of natural gas utilities when it combined with Summit Utilities, Inc. This added expertise to the team, as well as additional financial resources, for ongoing growth and investments to protect the integrity and safety of AOG’s natural gas system.