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Health & Fitness

Thousands attend GreyStone Annual Meeting

More than 3,200 GreyStone Power members and their families attended the 76th Annual Meeting of Members. The event, themed ‘the power of member connections,’ had 1,133 registered members in attendance. Members gathered at GreyStone’s Douglasville office on Oct. 12 for the festivities, which included an Energy Efficiency Expo, food and retail vendors.

The fairgrounds kept families busy with inflatables for children, games, balloon artists and face painters. Members also enjoyed a musical performance from the Tyler Hammond Band, a country group based out of Milledgeville.

This year’s Energy Efficiency Expo included multiple seminars presented by Residential Energy Services Department Manager Rudy Echols. Seminar topics included how to save money on heating and cooling and how to lower lighting costs.

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A popular feature of the event that had more than 2,200 visitors was the Health Fair, which offered free screenings, flu shots, massages and information on how to live healthier.

Several business owners who provide Co-op Connections® Card (CCC) discounts to GreyStone members sold food and retail items at the event. Participating vendors included Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q, Tupperware with Sherry Pace, Curves, Stars and Strikes, Yogli Mogli, Dependable Services and Thirty-One Gifts with Nicole Reed.

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During the business portion of the meeting, GreyStone President/CEO Gary Miller reported that the past 12 months had brought more growth in terms of members than the co-op has seen since 2008. “The improvement is a sign that our local economy may finally see recovery ahead,” he said.

Miller said the co-op is committed to keeping costs for electricity as affordable as possible, and he brought attention to actions that could increase costs. He said that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed carbon emissions standard could effectively put an end to new coal plants.

“If the EPA’s current efforts are successful, rates will begin to rise as low-cost coal plants disappear from the scene and are replaced with more expensive options,” Miller said. He encouraged members to visit www.action.coop to send an email to the EPA concerning their proposals.

Also during the business meeting, members elected directors without opposition (uncontested) from Districts 3, 5 and 9 by voice vote for full three-year terms. No candidates were nominated through petition by members. Elected were incumbents Charles Rutland, District 3, Douglas, Paulding; Jennifer DeNyse, District 5, Carroll, Douglas; and Ed Garrard, District 9, Cobb. Members also voted to pass proposed amendments to the co-op’s Bylaws.

The event concluded with 31 door prizes, which included GreyStone bill credits and a 40-inch high definition LED television. Samuel M. Davis of Lithia Springs, a GreyStone member for 50 years, won the grand-prize giveaway, a 2002 Chevy C1500 truck retired from the GreyStone fleet.

GreyStone Power serves more than 106,500 members in portions of eight counties, including Paulding, Douglas, Fulton, Cobb, Carroll, Bartow, Fayette and Coweta counties. Learn more at www.greystonepower.com.

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