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 Month of May produces successful events
Jul 1, 2009
The Blue Ridge organizations truly enjoyed the activities in May. First of all, we had another great cooperative annual meeting on May 11. A good crowd of members and their families and friends attended.
With all the goings on—door prizes, snacks and beverages, blood-pressure screenings, quality entertainment, and prize drawings—the business session was a real highlight. In saluting the military, we found at least a half-dozen of our World War II veterans were present that evening. There was also a strong contingent of other veterans and those currently serving in the armed forces.
One military reservist in attendance was U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. The senator made some brief, powerful remarks to the business-meeting audience, and we were honored to have him there.
Privileged to serve
What truly made the meeting special were the many Blue Ridge members who were part of the occasion. It warmed my heart to have conversations with numbers of you who joined us in the cool May evening. You demonstrated to me, once again, that the cooperative is indeed privileged to serve some of the finest people in the world. It was also pleasing to see three incumbent directors: Jimmy Lee Dodgens, Frank Looper, and Mendel Stone, reelected without opposition to new terms on the Blue Ridge board.
If the annual meeting was the cake, Blue Ridge Fest was the icing. The charity fund-raiser produced $142,000 in net proceeds, dollars that will soon be divided among 12 area human-help agencies.
A tremendous showing
This year’s total was just $3,000 less than last year’s record sum. An hour-long shower fell on our Friday Beach Night, while heavy downpours completely washed out Saturday’s motorcycle rally. Had the precipitation passed us by, I’m convinced the fest would have surpassed the 2008 numbers. In view of both the weather and the economic downturn, I’d have to say that the Blue Ridge Fest showing this time was just tremendous. Furthermore, I’m not about to complain about the rain; our drought-punished area needed it.
A number of factors came together to make Blue Ridge Fest a marvelous success. For one, 104 corporate and community sponsors presented a record total of financial or in-kind gifts to the fund-raiser. In addition, Beach Night attendees and cruise-in participants purchased a large number of admissions, producing a crowd conservatively estimated at 4,000. Lastly, volunteers from the cooperative and Blue Ridge Security Systems planned and conducted the fest, sold raffle tickets, and otherwise promoted the event to the community.
We tend to heave a sigh of relief when the annual meeting and Blue Ridge Fest are both behind us. However, the wheels are already turning in preparation for 2010. I know the Blue Ridge team will again rise to the occasion when next May rolls around.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Dalton
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