Touchstone Energy Hot Air Balloon to Kick Off Blue Ridge Electric Customer Appreciation Day July 27
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee R. Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, Phone: (828) 758-2383; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (July 19, 2001) - Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation will kick off a weekend of fun for the whole family on Friday, July 27, with a Customer Appreciation Day featuring an appearance by the Touchstone Energy Balloon.
The hot air balloon, which stands over seven stories tall, will be displayed on the Blue Ridge Electric front lawn on Blowing Rock Boulevard from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The crew of the Touchstone Energy Balloon will be on hand for pictures and to talk with visitors.
Cheri White, the 1999 National Women’s Division Champion of the National Hot Air Balloon Championship, pilots the balloon. White and her crew fly this colorful balloon around the country talking with people about Touchstone Energy, a national alliance of over 550 cooperative electric utilities providing local, personal-touch service to more than 16 million business and residential consumers who are member-owners of electric utilities like Blue Ridge Electric.
In addition to the Touchstone Energy Balloon, Blue Ridge Electric and its subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, are sponsoring other events during Blue Ridge Customer Appreciation Day. The Caldwell County Health Department’s mobile unit will provide children’s vision, hearing and dental checks, while Caldwell Memorial Hospital’s Quest 4 Life Wellness Center will provide health promotions for adults. The hospital’s Center for Diabetes Health will offer blood sugar testing. The American Red Cross, Family Resource Center and others will also participate in the day's activities.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Department will be on hand conducting free child car safety seat inspections as well as kid’s fingerprinting I.Ds. The department’s K-9 officers and dogs will be visiting from 11 a.m. until noon.
Activities for the kids will include bucket rides in the Blue Ridge Electric bucket trucks, face painting, and other activities. Refreshments will be available.
The Blue Ridge Customer Appreciation Day is the first of two days of fun for the whole family. On Saturday, July 28, Blue Ridge Electric will host a Blue Ridge Family Fun Fair and is presenting An Appalachian Summer Festival’s Outdoor Fireworks Concert featuring country music stars Jo Dee Messina with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, at Appalachian State University (ASU) in Boone. The Touchstone Energy balloon is scheduled for both events.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium and concludes with a fireworks show. The Blue Ridge Fair will take place on Duck Pond Field near Kidd Brewer Stadium from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Visitors are invited to bring their own picnic or purchase food from a variety of vendors at the fair. The Appalachian Mountain Girls will provide entertainment while Mast General Store is coordinating games for the children. Blue Ridge Electric will be offering bucket truck demonstrations. On display will be the first hybrid electric/gasoline car on the market: the Honda Insight. ASU students will be selling raffle tickets for the car to fund an educational trip.
For more information about the Blue Ridge Customer Appreciation Day in Lenoir on July 27 and the Blue Ridge Fair and Outdoor Fireworks Concert on July 28 in Boone featuring the Touchstone Energy Balloon, call (828) 758-2383 or see www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.
