Membership Matters
Apr 2004
Blue Ridge Sponsors An Appalachian Summer Festival
Member Discounts Available
As part of Blue Ridge Electric’s sponsorship of An Appalachian Summer Festival’s Outdoor Fireworks Concert, the cooperative is pleased to announce that discount tickets will again be available to members for the festival’s grand finale event, this year featuring legendary bands: The Platters, Beary Hobbs’ Drifters, and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters.
An immensely popular art form in the 50s and 60s that continues to have a strong following today, these bands are famous for their early rock and doo-wop sounds such as “Under the Boardwalk,” “This Magic Moment,” “There Goes My Baby,” and “Only You.” The bands’ artistic contributions are widely recognized, with honors including The Platters’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Drifters’ headline appearance on Dick Clark’s 20th Anniversary of Rock and Roll 42 City Tour, and The Coasters’ Cornell Gunter’s lead in establishing “the rock revival” for 50s bands as well as evolving his band into as much a comedic act as a singing group.
An Appalachian Summer Festival is a cultural arts program of Appalachian State University. The month-long arts festival features visual and performing arts for all ages. This is the seventh consecutive year Blue Ridge Electric has sponsored An Appalachian Summer Festival as part of its commitment to local communities.
The outdoor Fireworks Concert with The Platters, The Drifters, and The Coasters will be held Saturday, July 31, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium on the campus of ASU. The evening will conclude with the concert’s spectacular trademark fireworks show.
Members Only News
-For Members of Blue Ridge Electric
Nominating Committee Named
The Board of Directors appointed members for the cooperative’s Nominating Committee at their February board meeting. The committee will select a slate of nominees to fill four available board seats this year, and the nominees will be announced in the May Enlightener as well as posted in district customer service offices 30 days prior to the Annual Membership Meeting, which is held the second Saturday of June each year.
Committee members are:
Caldwell:
Debbie Smith, Gene Woods, Reba Barlow
Alternate: Judi C. Hyatt
Watauga:
Stewart Rhymer, Lowell Younce, Brad Teague
Alternate: Joyce Rhymer
Ashe:
Helen Sexton, John Shepherd, Wesley Hicks
Alternate: Jay Blevins
Alleghany:
Nina Elliott, Grace Wilkins, Wilma Foster
Alternate: Jack McGrady
Meet the Candidates
You have the opportunity to meet the candidates for your cooperative’s Board of Directors during “Meet the Candidate” forums being held in each local Blue Ridge Electric office on the following dates:
Ashe District: Wednesday, May 26
Caldwell District: Tuesday, June 1
Watauga District: Thursday, June 3
Alleghany District: Monday, June 7.
Each forum begins at 7 p.m.
Blue Ridge Electric offices will be closed Friday, April 9, in observance of Easter, and Monday, May 31, in observance of Memorial Day.
The Perspective
An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson
Right-of-Way Planning
Your cooperative is dedicated to delivering reliable power and providing efficient, safe power restoration when outages occur. We know that reliable electric service is a top priority for our member-owners and for that reason it’s an area to which we pay a lot of attention.
A key component of reliable service is our right-of-way maintenance program. It is designed to reduce outages and provide a safe working environment for our linemen while at the same time maintaining our appreciation for the beauty of our area. With over 7,000 miles of line, our right-of-way maintenance program is a significant investment in our annual cost of operations.
Before beginning a right-of-way clearing or maintenance project, we mail informational letters to members in areas where we’ll be working. We also invite members to open houses prior to starting herbicide treatments so that you have an opportunity to meet with us and learn more about our herbicide program. Because we value everyone in the communities we serve, we also make extra efforts to maintain contact information for non-members whose property our system crosses.
We understand that large trees are one of nature’s most beautiful creations, but during wind and ice storms they are one of the greatest threats to our electric system. For this reason we sometimes need to remove or significantly trim trees that are too large and too close to our poles and lines. We then follow up the next year with an approved herbicide that’s gentle enough to let low-growing vegetation grow back. We are also continuing to experiment with a program that gives members a voucher to replace a yard tree we must cut with a lower-growing species of tree.
As a member-owned cooperative, Blue Ridge Electric is focused on providing you with reliable electricity and superior customer service at an affordable price. We also understand that we must balance our right-of-way maintenance program with preserving the natural beauty of our area.
Call Us Before You Dig
Digging and underground power lines don’t mix! If you’re planting trees, building a house, or doing any project that involves digging, contact your local Blue Ridge Electric office at least two business days before breaking ground. We’ll mark underground power lines to help you dig safely.
Because some power lines are buried underground, one phone call to the cooperative can prevent a serious accident or fatality. Damage to underground lines from digging can also disrupt power to you and many other members, and repairs can be costly.
While some utilities prefer to join “one call” centers that locate underground lines for their customers, Blue Ridge Electric prefers to receive calls directly from our members and have our own technicians locate underground facilities. So if you’re doing projects that involve digging, please contact your local Blue Ridge Electric office before breaking ground!
Published monthly by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation for its 52,236 member-owners.
