Blue Ridge Electric Invites Member-Owners to Annual Meeting
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
West Jefferson, North Carolina (May 8, 2006) – The most important meeting of the year for members of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation will be held Saturday, June 10, as the cooperative’s Annual Membership Meeting takes place at Ashe County High School.
Every year on the second Saturday of June, Blue Ridge Electric hosts its Annual Membership Meeting to give members an opportunity to elect a slate of directors, hear updates on their cooperative, visit informational booths and exhibits manned by cooperative employees, and enjoy food and fellowship with other cooperative members. The annual meeting is one way Blue Ridge Electric strives to inform and involve those it serves: the member-owners of the cooperative.
This year, the cooperative is featuring an Energy Fair, with exhibits on energy efficiency designed to help members learn how to be wiser home energy consumers and save on their monthly energy bills. Ray and Wanda Russell, of Ray’s Weather Center, will be on hand, as well as representatives from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and various home weatherization programs to give members tips and answer questions. Homeowners can also receive technical advice from a professional quality control technician with Advanced Energy, a not-for-profit Raleigh agency and advisor to the residential building sector.
For the fourth consecutive year, members can take advantage of the Health Fair offered by Ashe Memorial Hospital. The health fair offers a variety of complimentary health services, screenings and information for all ages.
Exhibits also include a safety demonstration, “spin to win” energy trivia games, NC GreenPower—the state’s renewable energy initiative, and Blue Ridge Energies, the cooperative’s propane and heating fuels subsidiary with showrooms featuring gas logs and more located in each cooperative office. Booths from An Appalachian Summer Festival and Carolina Country magazine are also scheduled.
Children can take advantage of the Children’s Program, staffed by Blue Ridge employees and offering fun activities and refreshments from 9 a.m. until the end of the business session.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. For speedier service, members are encouraged to bring their registration card and door prize tickets from the back of their annual report/annual meeting membership notice being mailed to every member in late May.
Members must be registered and present to win all prizes. The grand prize is a retired Buick LeSabre and four $50 bills per district will also be awarded, as well as two Family Four Packs of tickets to An Appalachian Summer Festival’s Outdoor Fireworks Concert featuring John Michael Montgomery and a gift basket from Carolina Country.
Each registered member in attendance will also receive a heavy duty 15-foot extension cord with lighted receptacle. While they last, ham biscuits, drinks, fruit, and muffins will also be provided to members in the cafeteria prior to the business session, which begins at 10 a.m. in the gym.
Entertaining members from 8:15 to 9:20 in the gym will be Jeff Little, known as The Piano Man from the Blue Ridge. Little grew up in Boone and was influenced by his father’s music shop and musical sounds such as those from Doc Watson. These influences helped shape Little’s contemporary bluegrass sound.
During the business session, members will hear reports on the performance of the cooperative in 2005 as well as plans for the future. Members will vote on four nominees for open seats on Blue Ridge Electric’s board of directors. Nominated by the Nominating Committee are: Kenneth Greene, Ashe District; Joy Coffey, Watauga District; Charity Gambill, director-at-large; and Jimmy D. Hemphill, Caldwell District. No nominees by petition were received by this year’s April 10 deadline.
Hemphill was nominated by the cooperative’s Nominating Committee to fill the Board seat currently held by Oren Teague of Caldwell County. Teague is retiring from the Board effective at the 2006 Annual Membership Meeting. Teague has faithfully served as a Board member, representing Caldwell district, for the past 41 years.
Members who are unable to attend the annual meeting but want to vote for directors can assign their vote by proxy to another member who will be attending. The proxy and related information is printed on the inside back cover of the annual report/meeting notice.
For more information about the annual meeting, see your 2005 annual report/2005 annual meeting notice or contact your local cooperative office.
Blue Ridge Electric serves some 69,000 members in northwest North Carolina. It is a part of the national Touchstone Energy alliance of 630 local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives in 45 states that are providing high standards of service, energy and energy solutions to approximately 22 million consumers every day. Owned by those they serve, Touchstone Energy cooperatives operate as not-for-profit entities with a focus on integrity, accountability, innovation and a longstanding commitment to communities.
