This year’s Winter Meeting at the Omni Hotel Richmond on the 28th of January was a big success thanks to a good turnout by our dedicated members who braved the snow and ice to come out and support the Association.

Tuesday night, after a short meet-and-greet at Trevi’s in the Omni, members who registered enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Richmond’s famous Tobacco Company Restaurant. 

Peter Ryan of PAPC pictured with Eric Mays of Sharp Energy

The meeting activities began at 8 am Wednesday with a safety update from Outreach Coordinator Dennis Cruise followed by a legislative update from lobbyist Peter Easter.  After the update, all in attendance were encouraged to walk over to the General Assembly Building and meet with state legislators.  Many did! A record number of VAPGA members paid personal visits to the Richmond offices of their state senators and delegates, communicating the industry's desire to find a workable solution to the natural gas industry and SCC concerns regarding propane distribution systems in areas certificated by a natural gas utility.

After the legislative visits, the Young Gassers, Suppliers, Market Development, Governmental Affairs, Membership, and Education and Safety committees met to discuss upcoming business and planning for 2009.

Membership Meeting
During the Membership Meeting, committee chairs were called upon to provide updates to members.  The Membership Committee reported that Cindy McGinnis with Dominion Transmission and Larry Albon with Heritage Propane have applied for individual membership and that Weed Control, Inc., Crenshaw Reed owner, and Jim Cates with Cates Energy Service had applied for associate membership.  No objections were raised at the meeting with regards to these new member applications.

Brian Atwood of Parker Oil and Steve Barton of Gas Equipment Company with Susan Clark, Delegate Chris Jones' legislative assistant.

Board Meeting
At the January 28th meeting, the VAPGA board voted to amend the Association’s position on the propane distribution system issue approved at the December 30, 2008 meeting.  Those present agreed in principle to the compromise concept offered by the natural gas industry based on size and proximity thresholds from gas distribution main lines and developed a formal response requesting several modifications.

Special Thanks
Special thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets to benefit the VAPGA Scholarship Fund!  You helped us raise $260.00!!  Congratulations to James McClain, Bill Murphy, Ruth Barnard and Stephen Tibbs who won gift certificates to the Tobacco Company Restaurant and to Dennis Cruise who was the big winner of the 50/50 raffle!

Scholarship Campaign
Additional thanks go out to the persons and companies who have generously donated during the Annual Scholarship Campaign.  Thank you to:

• Gold Level Donor-Gardner Marsh Gas Equipment
• Silver Level Donor- Propane Trucks & Tanks (Paul Harris)
• Bronze Level Donor- Southwestern Virginia Gas Service Corporation (James McClain)-Donation In Memory of Allan McClain
• Bronze Level Donor- Central Oil of Virginia

Spring Meeting Save-the-Date
The Spring Meeting will be held at the Inn at Virginia Tech, April 26-28, 2009 in Blacksburg, Virginia.  Call now to make your reservations: 540-231-8000 or 877-200-3360. 

Harry Hanger of Atlantic Energy visits with Cynthia Haake, Delegate Sam Nixon's legislative assistant	Stephen and Kim Tibbs of Foster Fuels in front of the State Capitol on their way to visit legislators.
Bill Murphy of Valley Energy with Delegate Tom Rust's legislative assistant, Carol Sinclair