Close to 500 owner-members of Pioneer Electric Cooperative and their families turned out for the co-op’s annual member meeting on Saturday morning at the Butler County Fairgrounds. The event offered attendees live musical entertainment, the chance to experience a taste of hot air ballooning and to possibly win some goodies from an array of door prizes—not to mention some power bill credits.

PEC employees were on hand to provide curbside service to and from the exhibit hall via golf carts, help members check in, provide electrical safety demos and to answer questions about various PEC programs.

Those wanting to board the Touchstone Energy Cooperative hot air balloon lined up on the grounds for their chance to “rise above it all.”

“I’ve always loved hot air balloons but never had to chance to go up in one. I like the fact these are tethered so they can’t go too far,” said PEC member Dr. Carol Pope  with a smile as she prepared to wait her turn.

Inside the exhibit hall, young Jase Butts was peddling like mad on a special stationary bike to “produce some juice” to light up the bulbs attached to it, while  children and adults alike got to learn about electrical safety through the cooperative’s portable interactive exhibit.

Outside under the big tent, Magnum III, made up of former Southern Legends members David Jackson, Cleve Poole, Leroy Thomas and Bruce Bennett along with Ray Goss and Beth Cooper, performed crowd-pleasing tunes including “Boogie Shoes,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,”  “Mustang Sally,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Stuck in the Middle With You.”

Door prizes from children’s toys to home décor and more were given away to members.

Tina Brown, Dorothy Maye, Abbie Jackson, James A. Wicks, Deborah Salter, Brenda Bryan, Norman Oglesby, Henry O. Stinson, Christopher Fly and Reverend Arthur L. Brown were each winners of $75 bill credits.

Julian and Janie Lee of Georgiana were the big winners of a year of free electricity.

“While we welcome mailed-in ballots, we love having as many members attend as possible because it really is a fun, informative day. It’s great to see so many people really enjoying spending their morning with us,” said Casey Rogers, PEC Communications Specialist.

Pioneer Electric Cooperative serves more than 11,000 members in southeast Alabama, including the four primary counties of Butler, Lowndes, Wilcox and Dallas, along with portions of Autauga, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Covington and Monroe counties.