KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- No one has thrown an annual meeting quitelike CommunityAmerica Credit Union did recently.

The credit union's annual meeting took place at CommunityAmericaBallpark, and a festival atmosphere and drawing for $4,000 inprizes helped drive attendance at the annual meeting from thetypical 200 in past years to nearly 4,000 this year.

Member-owners munched hot dogs in baseball stadium seats,families strolled the base-paths, children with painted facesturned somersaults in the outfield, a live band belted out classicrock tunes from just above the left field wall, plus there werefireworks, moonwalks, video games and the Kansas City T-Bonesmascot, Sizzle, high-fived kids from atop the dugout.

The highlight of the night's festivities was the mechanicalbull-riding display put on by Dennis Pierce, CEO of CommunityAmerica Credit Union. It was fulfillment of a pledge Pierce hadmade to employees as an incentive to raise more than $30,000 forJunior Achievement during their annual Bowl-a-thon. The creditunion not only broke the record, they shattered it, raising$38,618.12 for the financial education organization, more than anyother organization has collected in the fundraising event's 23years.

With Matt Dillane, president and executive director of JuniorAchievement at the bull's controls, Pierce hung on for 22.3seconds. He then boosted the CommunityAmerica donation to JuniorAchievement by an additional $5,000 making the grand total$43,618.12.

To start the "formal" part of the meeting, Board ChairmanAllison Waggoner declared that the gathering was "a celebration ofcredit union membership." She presided over the election of boardmembers and announced the nonprofit's 2006 owner-participationdividend of $1 million.

Summing up the past year's performance, Pierce saidCommunityAmerica had added more than 10,000 new members, openedseveral new branches, and has a healthy capitalization rate of 12percent.