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 Annual meeting, Blue Ridge Fest highlights
Jul 1, 2010
Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative conducted its 70th annual meeting of members on May 10, and it proved to be another great occasion. Every registered member received a nice door prize, and about 30 of those members were also prize-drawing winners. One member, Ruby Gail Morris of Pickens, held the winning ticket for the grand prize, a 2003 Ford F-150 pickup. In addition, the popular gospel quartet, Gold City, gave us what might have been the best, most-uplifting performance we’ve ever had at an annual meeting.
I was very happy to see the good crowd on hand and to have the opportunity to chat with many of you individually. The business meeting proved to be the most-special part of the evening. During our traditional salute to the military, I was gratified to witness at least two dozen of our World War II veterans stand and be recognized. Other veterans and active armed-forces personnel stood as well to receive a warm round of applause.
Another successful annual meeting
Balloting during the business session saw two incumbent directors, Kenneth Southerlin representing the Greenville-Spartanburg district and Oconee County’s Joel Davis, reelected to new terms on the Blue Ridge board. In addition, Spencer Dalton was elected to replace his late father, Joel Dalton, in the vacant Pickens County seat. Congratulations are in order for all three of these gentlemen. It was definitely another successful annual meeting. My thanks go out to all of you who attended.
On May 14-15, we hosted our 13th yearly charity fund-raiser, Blue Ridge Fest. More than 5,000 persons flocked to the cooperative’s Pickens office grounds that Friday for our Beach Night Cruise-In.
A total of 550 classic vehicles rolled through the gate on Friday evening. Vintage autos, together with the wonderful entertainment, certainly contributed to the evening’s nostalgic atmosphere. The Legends of Beach and Jim Quick and Coastline were both real crowd-pleasers. In addition, our headline act, The Temptations, gave an extraordinary performance. Saturday was also rewarding, as we saw an even 400 motorcycles hit the road on our annual Blue Ridge Fest Ride for Charity.
New fund-raising peak
Record attendance, generous support from 100 corporate sponsors, and the volunteer efforts of our co-op and Blue Ridge Security employees culminated in a new fund-raising peak. A total of $151,000 in net proceeds was realized. Checks will soon be delivered to this year’s 13 fest-sponsored charitable organizations. In the 13 years we’ve conducted Blue Ridge Fest, more than $1.1 million has been raised on behalf of a multitude of local human-assistance agencies.
Our sincere gratitude goes out to everyone who supported our annual meeting and Blue Ridge Fest. At this point on the calendar, we’ve already set our sights on May 2011. You can be certain we’ll be doing the appropriate planning and preparation to ensure that both of these next-year events meet your expectations.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Dalton
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