Classics cover band 45 RPM rocked the night for a record-breaking crowd at the Kankakee Valley REMC 80th Annual Meeting Celebration in Valparaiso. Attendees lined up to vote for First and Second District Representatives, then shared a buffet dinner. Afterwards, Granpa Cratchet entertained guests with laughs, while bingo, balloon animals, and gift-bags provided fun for the family.
KV REMC knows how to plan an event. According to Amanda Steeb, the Director of Communications and Marketing, "This has been a lot of work for all of the employees over the past six to eight months, so it’s really great to see it all come together and see a turn out of this magnitude.” Steeb was beaming at the success of the event and the Representative elections.
"It's great to have the opportunity to have face-to-face time with our members." Steeb said.
Newly appointed KV REMC CEO, Scott Sears, was elated to be working with the co-op. "At the end of the day when you go back home, you feel like you made a difference." Sears said.
The co-op is known for is quick and friendly customer service. “When [the employees] go out in public to get the lights back on, the smiles they see on [the customer's] faces is all they need," he said.
While that might mean time away from their family, REMC employee’s know that the job needs to be done, no matter the circumstances.
Ron and Michelle Shong from Hebron, IN have seen that first hand. "They're really fast, when there's an outage and you call, they take care of it immediately. We’ve been out so scarcely compared to other companies." said the Shrongs, who’ve been coming to the Annual Meeting for the past seven years.
Two friends from Knox, IN, Joyce Fletcher and Pamela Varchetto, are also extremely satisfied customers when it comes to REMC. "It is a good program, especially the round-up that they use all that money for other activities [such as scholarships],” Fletcher said.
“I really like the fact that REMC is so involved in, and gives back to, the community," said Varchetto, who had some unfortunate stories to tell when it comes to other electric companies.
"I still have candles all over my house because there used to be blackouts for days,” she said. “[With REMC] if the power goes off you're like 'ah don't worry about it, it'll be back on in an hour' and it is."
By 7:30 PM the festivities around the Porter County Expo Center were wrapping up and it was time to reveal the prize winners and the newly elected officials. Chris Birky won the election for Representative of the First District. Birky ran unopposed and received a unanimous vote to retain his seat in office by the attending members.
Last up was the winner for Second District Representative. With a close 1,460 to 1,065 win over David Janney, Dean Moretton was called to office. Moretton has a few ideas as the new Second District Representative.
“I'm happy,” Moretton said. “I think it will be profitable for the members [if we] implement some of the technologies that are available on the U.S. market for co-ops."
For more information about Kankakee Valley REMC and member benefits, go to www.kvremc.com.
