April 13, 2024
Trinity AL – More than 350 members came out Saturday to attend the Eighty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Corporation.
The purpose of the JWEMC annual meeting is to update members on the business of their cooperative and to hold board member elections. This year, the board districts up for election were Districts 7, 8, 9, and the District at Large. Members were allowed to vote in person at the Annual Meeting or had the opportunity to vote with mail ballots sent to each member in March.
With 100 percent of the ballots counted, the results of this year's elections are as follows:
District 7, incumbent Charles Teague ran unopposed and received 2,678 votes.
District 8, incumbent Ray Long ran unopposed and received 2,680 votes.
District 9, incumbent Shirley Livingston ran unopposed and received 2,680 votes.
District At Large incumbent Milton Taylor ran against Jesse J Byrd. Milton Taylor received 2,027 votes, and Jesse J. Byrd received 1,108 votes, making Milton Taylor the winner with more than 66 percent of the votes.
After the meeting, ten J.R. Knouff Scholarships for $2,000 were awarded. The scholarships were awarded to William Bloyer of Brewer High School; Zander Cardee of Lawrence County High School; Melina Hollinghead of Priceville High School; Jayden Gholston of the University of North Alabama; Andrew Cook of the University of Alabama, Huntsville; Audrie Compton of Athens State; Sarah Nason of Maranatha Baptist University; Braylon Payton of Austin high school; Abby Floyd of Middle Tennessee State University; and Emily Esneault of the University of Montevallo. Scholarship winners will receive a package by mail with instructions.
Christy McCulloch of Town Creek won the grand prize, a 2017 Ford F-150 extended-cab pickup truck. Ten $100 gift cards were also given to Charles Orr of Hartselle, Jason Cartee of Danville, Bill Lewis of Falkville, Diana Luhmann of Eva, Terry Lynn of Hartselle, William Marshall of Decatur, Jim Addison of Town Creek, Opal Harris of Moulton, Susan Ledbetter Trinity, and J.N. McAnally of Eva.
This year, Joe Wheeler EMC's fiber Internet company, FlashFiber, celebrated two milestones: the completion of construction, offering service to all JWEMC members, and serving more than 13,000 customers. As a thank you to the FlashFiber customers who attended the JWEMC annual meeting, FlashFiber was eligible for a drawing for a 65-inch Samsung smart TV. Ms. Ginger Harkins of Trinity was the winner of the TV.
Joe Wheeler EMC's General Manager Gene Kanikovsky said of the meeting, "We were thrilled to have such an enthusiastic crowd come from across our entire service area to help celebrate the Joe Wheeler EMC family of companies. Together, Joe Wheeler, FlashFiber, and Wheeler Basin Natural Gas have a bright future ahead serving Lawrence and Morgan Counties."
