June 13, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Karen P. Powell, Public Relations Manager
Skyline Telephone Membership Corporation
(336) 982-3800, ext. 6117
e-mail: karen.powell@skyline.org

Frank James-SkyLine Scholarships Awarded

WEST JEFFERSON, NC: Nine area high school seniors have been named recipients of the 2005 Frank James – SkyLine Scholarship. The scholarships honor the memory of longtime director and former SkyLine President Frank James and are awarded to children of SkyLine members who reside in the cooperative’s five county service area. The awards were announced at area high schools’ Awards Day programs, and will be officially presented to the students at SkyLine’s Annual Meeting in early October.
Annually, SkyLine awards five $1,000 scholarships, renewable for up to four years, to students pursuing a four-year college degree and five $500 scholarships, renewable for up to two years, to students pursuing a community/technical college degree or vocational program.

Alleghany County recipients are: Ginny Absher, daughter of Loy and Debbie Absher of Sparta, who plans to attend N.C. State University; and Stellena Caudill, daughter of Micheal and Pamela Caudill of Sparta, who plans to attend Maryville College (the four-year scholarship will be split between these two students); and Ashley Newman, daughter of Tim and Stephanie Newman of Piney Creek, who plans to attend Wilkes Community College.

Ashe County recipients are: Lee Giles, daughter of Jacob and Petra Giles of Fleetwood, who plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and Autumn Rose, daughter of Ann Rose of Lansing, who plans to attend the NASCAR Technical Institute.

The Avery County recipient is D.J. Cook, son of Keith and Judy Cook of Elk Park, who plans to attend Appalachian State University.

The Watauga County recipient is Jon Dehen, son of Daniel Dehen of Banner Elk and Sue Wolf of Boone, who plans to attend Appalachian State University.

Johnson County recipients are: Laura Peters, daughter of Jeff and Kitty Peters of Shady Valley, who plans to attend King College; and Josh Cornett, son of Keith and Kay Cornett of Shady Valley, who plans to attend Northeast State Community College.

Established in 1951, SkyLine is a member-owned cooperative which provides a variety of telecommunications services to customers in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties in North Carolina and Johnson County in east Tennessee. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, SkyBest Communications, Inc., offers a variety of de-regulated products and services, including local calling services, business systems solutions, broadband Internet services and long distance.