SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – The three new members of the TWHNC Association are right at the heart of what’s going on in Shelbyville and Bedford County. Jim Allison, David Crowell, and Donna Stone are all community leaders in their own right and now will lend their many talents to The Celebration and its governing body.
The Celebration Association is the 40-person governing body of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The Board of Directors is chosen from the pool of Association members.
Here’s an opportunity to meet the three new Association members.
 
Jim Allison
Jim Allison is General Manager of Duck River Electric Cooperative in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He is also a football official in the Southeastern Conference.
Jim has over 25 years of experience in the electric utility industry in the Eastern US. He began his career at TVA in 1976 and left TVA in 1983 to join the American Electric Power Co. – one of the world’s largest electric utility companies - in positions in Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia where he concluded his 10-year AEP career as President of one of the AEP companies. He also spent three years as a Senior VP with Kentucky Utilities Co. and three years as CEO of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia in addition to his TVA and AEP experience. He joined Duck River and moved to Shelbyville in 1999.
As a football official, he has been privileged to officiate several post-season BCS Division (formerly Division I-A) bowl assignments, including most recently the January 2006 BCS Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, AZ between Notre Dame and Ohio State University, as well as prior SEC Championship games in the Georgia Dome and 2 lower Division college national championship games over the years.
Jim is married to Kim, a teacher at Southside Elementary School in Shelbyville, and has 2 children, Mike, age 20 and a sophomore at UT-Knoxville, and Jennifer, age 23 and a recent graduate of UT-Knoxville who is doing research work at the university and is awaiting the start of graduate school work in the fall. Jim is a member and officer of the Shelbyville Noon Rotary Club, a current or prior member of the Boards of the Shelbyville-Bedford County Library Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Shelbyville – Bedford County Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Salvation Army and other local charitable organizations, and is a Deacon at First Christian Church of Shelbyville.
“I am extremely pleased to be named to the Association,” said Allison. “The Celebration is very important to Shelbyville and the surrounding areas and I am excited about possibly being able to assist in any way I can to assure that it remains the premier event of its kind.”
David Crowell
David Crowell is a Shelbyville native and currently serves as the General Manager of the Shelbyville Power, Water, and Sewerage System.
David graduated from Shelbyville Central High School in 1979 and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Accounting.
He started work at the Shelbyville Power, Water & Sewerage System February 28,1986 as Office Manager, was appointed Assistant Manager in 1998, and assumed the role of General Manager on May 4, 2001.
David is a current Board Member of the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association, a member and Past President of Central District Managers Association, and a member and Past President of Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association.
His civic endeavors are numerous, serving as a member and Past President of the Joint Economic Development Board and is Treasurer of the Shelbyville Quarterback Club. He is a former member of the Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
David, along with his wife Tammy and children Josh (21) and Chelsey (18), are active members of the First Baptist Church in Shelbyville.
“I am very honored and excited to be selected as a member of the TWHNC Association,” Crowell said. “I look forward to being a part of this great organization, which is so important to Shelbyville and the Middle Tennessee area as well as the walking horse industry.”
Donna Stone
A career banker of 39years, Donna is a director and Chief Executive Officer of First Community Bank of Bedford County. A native of Petersburg, she is a graduate of Falls Business College, The Southeastern School of Banking held at Vanderbilt and, the Graduate School of Banking of the South and the Professional Master of Banking Institute at Louisiana State University.  Active in the state’s banking association; Donna serves on various committees and boards, currently holding the position of vice chairman of the board of trustees of The Southeastern School of Commercial Lending.
During her career, Donna has been active in the Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce serving as a past director and treasurer, a director of the United Way of Bedford and the Shelbyville Rotary Club in which she holds the Paul Harris Fellowship recognition. She holds the honor of being a past chamber Volunteer of the Year and Professional Business Woman of the Year recipient.
Donna and her husband, Dan, have four children and are the proud grandparents of Alexis, Will, Emalee, and Samuel. Dan, retired from the horse industry, today tends to the couple’s numerous horses, dogs, chickens, rabbits, and other pets located on their 41A Highway farm. They both enjoy attending horse shows and can be found on a regular basis at weekend auctions or yard sales.
“My love of horses and horseshows began years ago, when I would attend the one night shows with my aunt and uncle, watching my little cousin show and win in the lead line class, remarked Stone. “After marrying Dan, horses and horseshows definitely became a very important part of my life. But the importance of The Celebration and the economic impact of the walking horse industry to Shelbyville and Bedford County is something that you don’t need to be a horse owner, or even lover, to understand. It is an honor to be selected as a member of The Celebration Association and to be given the opportunity to be an ambassador for this great organization.”
“The Celebration has been fortunate from the very beginning to have outstanding leadership from members of our community,” stated Celebration CEO Ron Thomas. “The addition of these individuals to the TWHNC Association is a major plus for our organization.”
The 69th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration runs August22-September 1, 2007 at the historic Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville. For more information on this year’s show, call (931) 684-5915 or go the Celebration’s official website atwww.twhnc.com.