Investing in our
members is investing in strong
communities
by Jim Coode, General Manager
As you look through
the pages of this month’s magazine, I
hope you will take notice of the
articles dealing with the various
activities we are involved with here at
Cumberland Electric Membership
Corporation. The past few weeks have
been a busy time, what with Member
Appreciation Days and preparations for
the upcoming Washington Youth Tour and
the awarding of college scholarships.
It’s also a very exciting time, both for
our cooperative and particularly for our
younger members.
Member
Appreciation Days
We started
observing Member Appreciation Days four
years ago. The idea was to offer a
simple gesture of thanks to you for
being our customer, only in our business
we try to avoid using the word
“customer” because you’re more than
that, you’re a member, and that makes
you a full-fledged owner of this
company. And while we invite all of our
owners to come together for the annual
membership meeting each year, we felt
that wasn’t enough. For one thing, the
annual meeting is largely
business-oriented and we wanted to offer
an opportunity for people to come and
just relax in a picnic setting. There
are no neckties and speeches at a Member
Appreciation Day cookout! As you can see
from the photos on the next page, our
emphasis is on casual. If there is any
such thing as a new tradition, Member
Appreciation Days is proving to be a
good one.
Washington Youth
Tour
CEMC has
participated in the Washington Youth
Tour for many years, only now we’re
participating in a much bigger way than
before. The youth tour is put on by
the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association (NRECA) of which
CEMC is a member, along with hundreds of
other electric co-ops. The idea behind
the youth tour was to introduce young
cooperative members to the United States
of America by providing a guided tour of
the nation’s capitol—it’s historical
homes and monuments, as well as many
major tourist attractions. Participants
get to meet members of Congress, and
there have been years when they even got
to meet the President. We believe this
annual tour rewards participants for
being good students and also provides
them an incentive for being loyal
cooperative members. You can read more
about this year’s trip on Page 18.
College
Scholarships
This is the 12th
year CEMC has offered Citizen
Scholar College Scholarships to
students who plan to continue their
formal education after high school. Ten
academically gifted students from
throughout our service area will head
off to school this fall with $1,000 each
from CEMC. How they qualified for the
award is explained on Page 19. We see
this as an investment in our future, and
not just our cooperative’s future. We
believe college helps build better
citizens, and we are proud to encourage
our young members to work hard for their
degrees and lay the groundwork for
successful careers.
Each of these
projects reflect our belief in The Seven
Cooperative Principles, which all
cooperatives strive to follow,
especially principle number seven,
‘Concern for Community’:
“While focusing on
member needs, cooperatives work for the
sustainable development of their
communities through policies accepted
through their members.”
We believe we’re on
the right track toward developing great
communities.
Crowds flock to
Member Appreciation Days
Thanks to all the
fine folks who attended Member
Appreciation Days this Spring! It
was great taking our electric grill on
the road and serving hotdogs to hundreds
of Cumberland Electric Membership
Corporation customers during three weeks
in April. We found warm weather
and even warmer people at every stop.
CEMC appreciates
its members and our employees are proud
to be of service every day, not just on
the days we’re giving out hotdogs and
cold drinks!
Thanks also to
those who purchased our “Family
Favorites” cookbook which is a
fundraising effort for Project Help. The
cookbooks are still available for
purchase at each CEMC business office.
We hope to see you
again next year!
CEMC awards
dollars for scholars
Continuing their
formal education beyond high school is
the dream of many young people, and
Cumberland Electric Membership
Corporation is pleased to help make the
dream a reality for the students
pictured on this page. Each of them has
been awarded a $1,000 Citizen Scholar
College Scholarship from CEMC.
To qualify for the
award, students were required to write a
paper describing how attending college
will help them achieve their life’s
goals. Students were also required to
demonstrate academic commitment and
financial need. The papers were judged
by a panel of retired teachers who chose
the top 10 finalists from among scores
of entries.
“CEMC is
proud to contribute to the college
careers of such outstanding students as
these,” says Barbara Harper, member
services manager. “They have shown
determination in their studies which
will lead to success in college
and beyond.”
This year’s winners
are:
• Nicole Bowers,
daughter of Mike and Charmaine Bowers of
Dover. Nicole is a graduate of Stewart
County High School and will be attending
Austin Peay State University.
• Matthew Bracey,
son of Sidney and Kathy Bracey of
Clarksville. Matt is a graduate of
Sycamore High School and plans to attend
The University of Tennessee,
Chattanooga.
• Evelyn Cordeiro,
daughter of Robert and Amanda Cordeiro
of Pleasant View. Evelyn is a graduate
of Sycamore High School and will attend
Western Kentucky University.
• Deanna Couts,
daughter of Vickie Couts of Springfield.
Deanna is a graduate of East Robertson
High School and plans to attend Western
Kentucky University.
• Molly Fields,
daughter of David and Teresa Fields of
Springfield. Molly is a graduate of
Springfield High School and will be
attending Belmont University.
• Spencer Garrett,
son of Larry and Sherry Garrett of White
House. Spencer is a graduate of White
House Heritage High School and will be
attending Austin Peay State University.
• Lauren Gregg,
daughter of Lisa and William Gregg Jr.
of Hendersonville. Lauren is a graduate
of Beech High School and will be
attending The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville.
• Paige Jessop,
daughter of Jennifer Page of Cumberland
Furnace. Paige is a graduate of
Montgomery Central High School and plans
to attend The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville.
• Leslie Marberry,
daughter of Michael and Angie Marberry
of Cottontown. Leslie is a graduate of
White House Christian Academy and is
deciding between Lipscomb University and
Austin Peay State University.
• Ashley Nelligan,
daughter of Micheal Nelligan of White
House. Ashley is a graduate of White
House Christian Academy and plans on
attending East Tennessee State
University.
This marks the 12th
year CEMC has awarded scholarship
money through the Citizen Scholar
program. This year’s winners were chosen
from among 151 applicants representing
26 public and private high schools
throughout the CEMC service area of
Cheatham, Montgomery, Robertson,
Stewart and Sumner counties.
Seniors look
forward to Washington Youth Tour
Early on the
morning of June 11, 12 high school
seniors will board a bus to begin what
many before them have described as “the
trip of a lifetime” as participants in
the National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association Washington Youth Tour.
Chosen for the
week-long trip as representatives of
Cumberland Electric Membership
Corporation, the students first had to
write a short story on the subject,
“Electric Cooperatives: Energizing
Our Communities” and have it judged as
one of the best from among more
than 300 entries.
The winning papers
were submitted by the following
Washington, D.C.-bound students:
• Jared Barber, son
of Barry and LaJeana Barber of Portland.
Jared attends Portland High School.
• Josiah Brown, son
of Scott and Kathy Brown of Ashland
City. Josiah attends Sycamore High
School.
• Taylor Genz, son
of David and Heather Genz of Indian
Mound. Taylor attends Stewart County
High School.
• Hailey Keith,
daughter of William and Kimberly Keith
of Greenbrier. Hailey attends Greenbrier
High School.
• Natalie Kela,
daughter of Jim and Petra Kela of
Clarksville. Natalie attends Montgomery
Central High School.
• Brittney Meador,
daughter of Kellie Bangert of Portland
and Derek Meador of Bowling Green.
Brittney attends Portland High School.
• Lesley Wallace,
daughter of Reggie and Ginger Wallace of
Indian Mound. Lesley attends Stewart
County High School.
• Kaitlyn Warren,
daughter of Penny Warren of Big Rock.
Kaitlyn attends Stewart County High
School.
• Erin Weakley,
daughter of Phillip and Lou Ann Weakley
of Cunningham. Erin attends Montgomery
Central High School.
• Casey Williams,
son of Greg and Stacie Williams of
Cunningham. Casey attends Montgomery
Central High School.
• Nicole Wolowicz,
daughter of Ted and Melinda Wolowicz of
Springfield. Nicole attends Greenbrier
High School.
• Chase York, son
of Lisa York of Pleasant View. Chase
attends Sycamore High School.
Accompanying the
group will be two employees from CEMC’s
Member Services Dept.—Barbara Harper and
Stephanie Lobdell. William James ‘Dusty’
Holder, a history teacher at Stewart Co.
High School, is also going.
Day One is for
traveling across Tennessee with a
destination of Staunton, Virginia.
The real
site-seeing begins on Day Two with a
stop and tour of Monticello, the home of
President Thomas Jefferson in
Charlottesville, Va. Later, students
will participate in a guided tour of the
Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials in
Washington, along with the Vietnam,
Korean, World War II and Iwo Jima
Memorials.
On Day Three, stops
include Arlington National Cemetery with
an excellent view of a wreath-laying
ceremony, and the first of two trips to
the Smithsonian Institution. In the
evening, plans call for attending the
play, “Thurgood” at the Kennedy Center.
Day Four includes a
VIP tour of the U.S. Capitol
and a stop at the Washington National
Cathedral.
On Day Five,
students will visit the home of
President George Washington, Mount
Vernon, tour the Crime and Punishment
Museum and return to the Smithsonian.
On Day Six, their
last full day in the city, the group
will hear from and pose for pictures
with members of Tennessee’s
Congressional delegation before touring
the Newseum.
The next morning,
everyone will be roused from their
slumber at 3 A.M. to prepare for the
flight to Nashville, hopefully with many
new friends and many wonderful memories
that will last a lifetime.
