June 2024
This is the time of year when students are graduating and celebrating their brief freedom by going on well-deserved vacations or enjoying popular attractions. Fortunately, there are great events happening throughout our readership area, examples of which you can find in this year’s Fairs & Festivals Guide.
Here at the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, we have our Education Scholarship Foundation that has been awarding scholarships to cooperative-member students since 2001 in our three-state area. This year we are celebrating our one millionth dollar given to a deserving student. It’s a great feeling to help someone achieve their dreams by furthering their education in college or a trade school like the Power Line Worker Training School at Southside Virginia Community College.
Our Cooperative Focus feature is about the 50th anniversary of Northern Neck’s Smith Point Sea Rescue. Be sure to read about this all-volunteer group that rescues distressed boaters in the Chesapeake Bay and why they are led to participate. In this issue we also recognize National Dairy Month with a look at the dairy industry in Maryland, take you to the EV Grand Prix in Shenandoah Valley, and show you the wild ponies in Chincoteague on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
We just completed hosting our 20th annual Gaff-n-Go Lineworker Rodeo where there were a record number of lineworkers that participated, including a drone event for the first time. Be on the lookout for more details and pictures of this amazing event in our July issue of Cooperative Living.
Congratulations to the class of 2024 and we pray you have many more milestones to celebrate in the years ahead.
Brian S. Mosier, President & CEO
Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives