Published: May 14, 2008 04:44 pm            

Hendricks Power sponsoring student trip to Washington, D.C.

-Staff report

Matthew Hollars, a junior at Danville Community High School, will represent Hendricks Power Cooperative on the 2008 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C.

Indiana’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives have hosted the youth tour since 1960, providing hundreds of young Hoosiers the opportunity to visit the nation’s capital and learn about the federal government and the cooperative utility industry.

The 2008 youth tour begins June 12 with an orientation program in Indianapolis and ends June 19.

Donnis Mizelle, CEO of Hendricks Power, said the Indiana delegation will be comprised of 66 students from throughout the state, each selected by a local Touchstone Energy cooperative. In 2007, nearly 1,500 students from 48 states attended the week-long conference.

“Hendricks Power is pleased to be able to provide this opportunity for one of our local students,” Mizelle said. “It’s a great trip and a wonderful chance to see the sights, make new friends and learn how everyone, even young people, can make a difference in the political process.”

The Indiana delegation will meet in Indianapolis on June 12 to get acquainted and to learn about the Indiana legislative process. The students will depart early on Friday and spend their first evening in Gettysburg, Pa. On Saturday, they will tour the Gettysburg National Battlefield, spend the afternoon in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and arrive in Washington, D.C., that evening. Sunday through Wednesday is a full schedule of sight-seeing and meetings, including visits to the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, a collection of museums, and a night cruise on the Potomac River.

Students will participate in a Monday morning “Youth Tour Rally,” where they will share their thoughts and opinions on a variety of timely issues. This will prepare them for a busy Tuesday on Capitol Hill, when Indiana’s students will visit with representatives of Indiana’s Congressional delegation. The week will end with the “All-States Dinner Dance” at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.

Sean Michael Bailey of Avon High School has been selected as an alternate and will be asked to represent the Hendricks County community in the event that Hollars is unable to attend.

For more information about the 2008 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., call Hendricks Power at 745-5473 or visit the website at www.indremcs.org in the section entitled “Indiana’s Electric Cooperatives.”

Hendricks Power Cooperative provides electricity and energy services to more than 26,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in west central Indiana. Formed in 1936, the cooperative is owned and controlled by its members.

        

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