Star Photo/Curtis Carden Carter County Community Advisory Board members voted on their executive officers Thursday afternoon.

After a busy two years, the torch has been passed to new leaders of the Carter County Community Advisory Board.
Organization members met Thursday afternoon at the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library and voted on new leadership for the upcoming two-year term. Each position had one nominee for each with Josh McKinney, Jilian Reece and Jessica Bitner each being voted unanimously into the positions of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary, respectively.
Stephanie Hopson, who proceeded over CAB for the past two years, was given a round of applause for her service to the organization.
McKinney, an enthusiastic member of the group, is no stranger to staying busy. The director of the United Way of Elizabethton/Carter County has been active with other endeavors including the Downtown Elizabethton Farmer’s Market and working with other organizations to get Carter County designated as a Healthier Tennessee Community by the Governor’s Foundation.
The new Chair said he’s ready to hit the ground running and had nothing but praise for Hopson’s efforts.
“I am grateful for the confidence my peers have shown in me by electing me as their Chair,” McKinney said. “CAB has been very successful these past two years, and a lot of that success can be attributed to the past Chair, Stephanie Hopson. I hope to follow in her footsteps to help the CAB grow and succeed even further.”
An active trait among members, Reece has been a regular member of the organization and currently spearheads the Community Gardens aspect of the group. While helping with the organization different events, Reece is the director of the Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition – located in downtown Elizabethton.
The newest addition to the elected officials is Bitner. After being voted on as the Vice Chair of the Carter County Democratic Party, the new secretary said she’s ready to assist where she can work with CAB.
During the meeting, members heard updates about the Farmer’s Market, community gardens and received updates on various activities going on within the community.
As the months go on, McKinney stated the group would be ready to continue its service to the community.
“The CAB has tremendous potential to create opportunities for change in our community, and that strength comes from the collaboration of its organization and partners,” McKinney said. “I’m looking forward to a productive two years.”
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Pam Garland with TennCare Kids Program provided an update about the organization to start of Thursday’s meeting. TennCare Kids is a full program of checkups and health care services for children that have TennCare.
Garland stressed the importance of the program and added that the Carter County Health Department completed 931 well-child exams between July 1, 2016, to May 1, 2017.  For more information about TennCare kids, contact Garland at (423) 975-7915 or Ella Kane with the Northeast TN Regional Health Office at (423) 979-3200.