Following Deadly Tornados, SkyLine Crew HelpsAlabama Telephone Cooperative Rebuild

In mid-May, a crew of four SkyLine Membership Corporation’s outsideplant employees left West Jefferson for a one-week assignment in Rainsville,Alabama. The men were sent there to help a telephone cooperative restoreaerial plant facilities ravaged by a series of six F-2 to F-4 tornados that strucka substantial part of its service area during a 12-hour period on April 27.

Four members of SkyLine’s aerial construction department (KevinColvard, Eddie Krider, Paul Winterton and Eugene Seatz), driving a line truck and a bucket truck, left early on the morning of Monday, May 16 forthe 10-hour drive to Rainsville, located in DeKalb County, and remained

there until Saturday, May 21. The menworked 12- to 16-hour days, re-routing the companies’ poles and outsideplant cabling facilities. In the five-day period SkyLine employees were there,they used more than 10,000 feet of cable. According to Farmers’ officials, theco-op’s service area sustained 35 miles of damage, including 10 percent of itsaerial plant.

SkyLine was among nine rural telephone companies (the others werefrom Tennessee and Kentucky) to be dispatched to Farmers’ service area.Reports from various Alabama news sources say that DeKalb County was the hardest hit area in northern Alabama, where the tornadoes stayed on

the ground longer than usual, killing a total of 34 people, and eight people lost their lives in neighboring JacksonCounty. The total number of Alabama deaths caused by thesestorms was 238. According to SkyLine lineperson KevinColvard, the men saw remnants of these devastating stormsalong their drive to Rainsville, including Trenton Georgia, andthe earliest signs of damage from that same line of stormswere as close as Gate City, Virginia.

“What we saw was so horrific, you can hardly describe it,”he said. “There were some areas with a mile-and-a-half-widepath of destruction, and if it was in the direct path of thestorm, there was nothing left of their cabling facilities to repair; we just had to start over,” Colvard said.

The four men were glad to return home to their families, but they also were grateful to SkyLine for the opportunity to help. Paul Winterton said, “I’m glad I went down to help and lend a hand.” Eugene Seatz said, “Itmakes you appreciate what we have here.” Eddie Krider commented, “It gave us a sense of accomplishment.” AndKevin Colvard remembers what Farmers’ General Manager shared with them before they left. “Mr. Johnson said tous, ‘We hope we don’t have to, but if you ever need us, we’ll be there.’”

JULY 2011

106183

Published monthly for customers of SkyLine Membership Corporation and SkyBest Communications

www.SkyLine.orgwww.SkyBest.com

60 Years of Great Connections – 1951-20111980s: Break-up of AT&T & SkyLine

Completes All-Digital NetworkThe 1980s represented a time of great change in the

telephone industry with the divestiture of AT&T in 1984.One of SkyLine’s major achievements occurred in 1988,when it provided an all-digital network to its mem-bers with the conversion ofits final exchange(Scottville) from electro-mechanical technology todigital technology. Thosepictured inside one of Sky-Line’s central offices in-clude two now retiredemployees: Carl Massey(standing, rear), and RayHowell (standing, middle).

CUSTOMER SERVICEALLEGHANY

372-1350ASHE

877-1350846-1350

AVERY

898-1350WATAUGA

963-1350865-1350

JOHNSON

739-1350OUTSIDE

LOCAL SERVICE AREA

1-800-759-2226

REPAIR SERVICELOCAL CALLS

611

WORTH NOTING:

Monday, July 4, 2011SkyLine Customer

Centers to Close forHoliday

Friday, July 15, 2011Ashe County

Relay for Life, 6 p.m.Ashe County High

School, West Jefferson

Friday, July 15, 2011Johnson County

Relay for Life, 7 p.m.Ralph Stout Park, Mountain City, TN

STAFF:Jimmy Blevins

Chief Executive Officer

Kim ShepherdExecutive Director of Service

Operations

Karen P. PowellPublic Relations Director & Editor

SkyLine’s Kevin Colvard works from the SkyLinebucket truck to reattach aerial cable. The four

SkyLine employees dispatched to Alabama usedmore than 10,000 feet of aerial cable in five days.

Left to right: SkyLine linepersons Eugene Seatz, Kevin Colvard, Paul Winterton and Eddie Krider.

SkyLine/SkyBest Supports LMC Summer Theatre

SkyLine/SkyBest is pleased to be a corporate sponsorof the Lees-McRae Summer Theatre program again thisyear, which is returning to present three shows in 2011: I Do, I Do, Swing, The Musical and The Sound of Music.For ticket and schedule information: www.lmst.lmc.edu.

Pictured left to right are: SkyLine Board Vice President Buster Burleson, Dr.Janet Barton Speer, LMC Summer Theatre Artistic Director, SkyLine PublicRelations Director Karen Powell and SkyLine Board member D.C. Smith.

Recipe of the Month

Summer PizzaIngredients:

2 packages crescent roll mix2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese2/3 cup mayonnaise1 package (dry) Hidden Valley Dressing (or 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing)chopped vegetables, pepperoni, salami, sunflowerseeds, etc.

Instructions:Flatten crescent roll mix onto cookie sheet andbake until golden brown (a few minutes less thanpackage directions). Cool.

Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise and dressing,spread over baked crust.

Top with vegetables or assorted nuts and cookedmeats, then refrigerate overnight. Before serving,seed a tomato, drain off juice, cut into tiny cubes,and sprinkle on top.

Recipe submitted by SkyLine member Karen James of Watauga County.

JOSH EVANSAppalachian State

UniversityParents: Timmy &

Donna Evans

CHASE WOODSurry Community

CollegeParents: Roger &

Kathy Wood

JIMMY FUNESNorth CarolinaState University

Parent: Inez Funes

JOSH BARKERCaldwell Comm.

CollegeParents: Mitchell &

Pam Barker

NICOLE WAGNERCentral Carolina Comm. CollegeParents: Neal &Brenda Wagner

ALLEGHANYCOUNTY

ADAM WISEUNC at AshevilleParents: SherryPerry & Sidney

Wise

TRACI PARLIERCaldwell Commu-

nity CollegeParents: Harold &

Amy Parlier

WILLIAM WARDAppalachian State

UniversityParents: Betty

Ward & the lateJames Ward

RACHEL DUGGERTennessee Tech

UniversityParents: James &

Julie Dugger

SAVANA OSBORNE

Northeast State Comm. CollegeParents: Dawn

Pencek & JamesOsborne

AVERY COUNTY

Area Students Named Winners of Frank James-SkyLine Scholarship

Ten area high school seniors have been named recipients of the 2011Frank James – SkyLine Scholarship. The scholarships honor the memory of longtime director and former SkyLine President Frank James and areawarded to children of SkyLine/SkyBest customers who reside in our five-county service area. The awards were announced at area high schools’Awards Day programs, and will be officially presented to the students atSkyLine’s Annual Meeting in September.

Annually, SkyLine awards $1,000 scholarships, renewable for up tofour years, to students pursuing a four-year college degree and $500 scholarships, renewable for up to two years, to students pursuing a community/technical college degree or vocational program.

ALLEGHANYCOUNTY

ASHE COUNTY ASHE COUNTY ASHE COUNTY

AVERY COUNTY WATAUGA COUNTY

JOHNSONCOUNTY

JOHNSONCOUNTY

Call North Carolina One Call System Before You Dig

If you have an outside project in your plans before summer ends and itrequires digging, do yourself a favorand call the N.C. One Call System first.

Now, you can reach One-Call Systemby dialing '8-1-1' from any landline phoneor any cell phone that is connected to a tower in North Carolina. And, our ShadyValley customers also can contact the Tennessee One-Call Centerby dialing 8-1-1 from their homes or businesses located in the 739 telephone exchange. When you contact the One-Call System, you will need to provide the following information:

• County and town• Location of work

– street address• Nearest cross street• Area to be marked• Date and time of exca-vation or digging• Type of work• Your name and number or the contractor’s contact information

If you don’t call first, you may end up with environmentaldamage, interruption of service, job or project delays or the potential for accidents and injuries. When you contact One Callfirst, our personnel will come and mark the utility lines in yourwork area. You can then dig safely without the fear of damaging

telephone lines.

Enjoy the remainder of your gardening and landscaping projects this summer, but remember to be safe and the One Call Systembefore you dig.

Happy Independence Day from SkyLine/SkyBest