Meridian Waste North Carolina held its inaugural Fishing Rodeo and Fun Fest on Saturday, April 13 at Tri-Corners C&D Landfill in Alamance County, North Carolina, 5833 Foster Store Road in Liberty. Meridian Waste purchased the Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill, formerly known as Coble’s Sandrock, in September 2023 and made a pledge to the community that the business would be a strong and dedicated community partner. The recent fundraising event proved to be a great success.
The Tri-Corners Landfill Fishing Rodeo and Fun Fest concept was initially created by Deanna Martin, General Manager of Meridian Waste’s Triad Hauling operations, with Jenny Gum, top sales representative for Triad Hauling and Tri-Corners Landfill. Martin and Gum are the daughters of Kent and Brenda Coble, former owners of the landfill and hauling companies. The sisters remained on staff after the sale of the landfill and hauling assets to Meridian Waste. Martin and Gum, along with Tri-Corners Landfill Manager, Josh Gustaf, hosted the free community event to bring neighbors and community members to the disposal facility for a better understanding of how the landfill operates. And they provided informative tours about the essential disposal operations that serve the quickly growing Triad region. The fun day demonstrated the many natural attributes of the landfill property including a well-stocked fishing lake and rolling pasture lands to catch fish, and many more activities. The family-friendly event included a competitive fishing rodeo, a interactive yellow iron video simulator for driving and operating earth moving equipment, inflatable children’s games, a mechanical bull, face painting, bubble station, field amusements, and a free Zack’s hot dog lunch for all attendees.
“I was so pleased by the positive response to this first-ever event in Alamance County where Meridian Waste is an involved and positive new neighbor,” said Patrick Messinger, Meridian Waste’s Area President. “We served 755 picnic lunches to guests, gave away hundreds of children’s Earth Day gift bags, and awarded multiple fishing rodeo prizes by age groups,” he said. “Games included fun competitions for the longest, heaviest, and smallest fish, and raffle prizes. We appreciate the gracious thanks from participants who had the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors in advance of Earth Day,” said Messinger. “Our goal was to share the vital services we provide to properly manage construction and demolition debris materials generated in the County and throughout the region in a responsible manner. We can’t wait for our Tri-Corners Fall 2024 community event to focus on a Pick-Your-Pumpkin Patch and other ‘surprise’ activities.“
In addition to providing a free community event, The Tri-Corner’s Fishing Rodeo and Fun Fest was as a fundraiser for the E.M. Holt Elementary School’s Backpack program securing much needed food donations for under-served children. The backpack program produced 80 cubic feet of donated food supplies for children who may otherwise go without a structured meal while not in school. By placing food items in backpacks, children were ensured confidentiality about their lack of food. Recipients included low income children with some homeless youngsters as beneficiaries.