Drinkwater, May participate in National Youth Tour
Published 5:33 pm Monday, June 30, 2025
Lola Drinkwater and Cade May at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Cade May said one of the most enjoyable aspects of the Washington Youth Tour was making new friends. Pictured are, from left, Aiden Haecker, TR Miller High School, Jack Pinckard, Wetumpka High School, and May.
Lola Drinkwater said she enjoyed meeting other youth from around the nations. Pictured with Drinkwater at the Lincoln Memorial are, from left, Kayla Hughes, Caroline Short, Brylie Griffin, Kylie Thomasson and Drinkwater.
Clockwise, from left, Cade May, Jack Pinckard, Jessica Patton, Jael Downey, Carter Evans and Carter Evans.
Lola Drinkwater in front of the United States Capitol.
Cade May and Lola Drinkwater with new friends at the Lincoln Memorial. Pictured are, from left, Carter Evans from Opelika, Drinkwater, Jack Pinckard and May.
Lola Drinkwater and Cade May had a trip of a lifetime participating in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Washington Youth Tour.
Drinkwater and May applied for the Montgomery Youth Tour through South Alabama Electric Cooperative. They attended the Montgomery tour in the same group and both were selected to represent their group in the Washington Youth Tour.
“It was my first trip to Washington, D.C.,” Drinkwater, who will be a senior at Charles Henderson High School this fall, said. “I was very excited about going and it was a very unique experience.”
Drinkwater and May, who will be a senior at Pike Liberal Arts School in the fall, departed for Washington, D.C., on June 16 and returned from Washington, D.C., on June 22.
On Tuesday, the Alabama group visited Capitol Hill to meet with Alabama. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, before taking a tour of the Library of Congress, a tour of the Capitol and capped off the day watching a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Colorado Rockies.
May and Drinkard both said Wednesday’s tour of the Holocaust Museum was one of the highlights of the trip.
“The Holocaust Museum was the most impactful and moving thing I saw,” May said. “It was such a terrible event. It was terrible to see what happened to those people and how horrible what they went through was.”
Drinkard said the Holocaust Museum was an experience she would never forget.
“It was really eye-opening as to what happened to those people,” Dinkard said. “I had read about the Holocaust, but the museum had so much more to read and explained the events that lead to the Holocaust. I learned a lot about what happened and how horrible it was.”
Over the next few days, the group from the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives, got a chance to meet students from cooperatives across the nation as well as tour a wide array of monuments and museums.
“Getting to meet people from all over the state and nation was a highlight for me,” May said. “I think we had representatives from 61 Alabama counties and 41 to 44 states. I got to meet a guy from Alaska and Wisconsin and people from all over. I was able to make a lot of friends during the week.”
Drinkwater said she also enjoyed getting to meet new people because it gave her a perspective on the different cultures in the U.S.
“The whole trip was very informative,” Drinkard said. “I got to meet a lot of people from other states, so I was exposed to a lot of different cultures from the States.”
The Alabama group visited the National Cathedral, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the White House, Ford’s Theater, the Smithsonian Museums and other sites in the D.C. area.
They also made a visit to various military monuments and Arlington Cemetery, which left an impression on both students.
“We were able to tour Arlington Cemetery, and all of it was very impressive,” Drinkwater said. “We also attended a wreath laying at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, and that was very moving.”
May said visiting the United States Marine Corps Marine Barracks Washington was a unique experience. The group was able to see one of the Marine Corps premier public drill duties.
“We got to see the Friday Evening Parade,” May said. “That was fantastic. I was impressed by the discipline and skill of the Marines. I didn’t know we had anything like that.”
After the Friday Night parade, students wrapped up the tour on Saturday by visiting the Smithsonian Museums and visiting the World War II Memorial before flying back to Alabama on Sunday.
“It was really a ton of fun,” May said. “I’d recommend it to anyone that had the opportunity.”
Drinkwater is the daughter of Adam and Kristy Drinkwater and May is the son of Tony and Ryann May.
