Georgia Magazine - July 2018 - 14

NEWS FROM GEORGIA'S ELECTRIC CO-OPS COMPILED BY AMY SCHNEIDER

* Dollars for scholars: Southern Rivers
Energy in Barnesville and the Southern
Rivers Energy Trust recently awarded
$3,000 scholarships to five local students:
Victoria Barnes of Griffin, Jordan Carr of
Forsyth, Bayleigh Jackson of Thomaston,
Hannah Nauck of Concord and Taylor
Smith of Zebulon. The scholarship program is funded through Southern Rivers'
Operation Round Up, in which members
round up their monthly bills and the extra
money goes to charitable causes. Since
2007, the Southern Rivers Energy Trust
has awarded $170,000 in scholarships to
local students.
* GED heroes: The foundation board for
Flint Energies in Reynolds gave a $12,000
grant to the South Georgia Technical
College Foundation in Americus. The
money is to be used toward 75 scholarships for students seeking to earn their
General Educational Development (GED)
high school equivalency certificates. The
funds came from Flint's Operation Round
Up program.
* Spreading the love: Amicalola EMC in
Jasper awarded $17,252 in grants to 17
Continued
14

E

leven linemen from five Georgia
electric membership cooperatives
(EMCs)-Carroll EMC (Carrollton),
Cobb EMC (Marietta), Coweta-Fayette
EMC (Newnan), Flint Energies (Reynolds) and Jackson EMC ( Jefferson)-
spent two weeks in April in Bolivia to
provide electrical power to about 40
families in the Andes Mountains.
The crews worked in the remote
villages of San Isidro and Murmutani
in central Bolivia, where most people
work in agriculture. The communities
have been waiting for years for access to electricity.
The electrification
project was made possible by NRECA (National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association) International, an Arlington,
Va.-based nonprofit organization that aims to
increase access to electricity worldwide.
The crew faced
some challenges, including the rugged terrain.
"Work was harder
there because there
were no bucket trucks
and there was a language barrier," said Nick
Chapman, a Carroll EMC
lineman. "The weather
was awesome, but at
13,000 feet above sea
level, it was hard to breathe."
The linemen walked pole to pole,
often on the sides of mountains.
"It was primitive work, back to
the roots of line work," said Tommy
Minish, a Jackson EMC lineman. "We
didn't have enough tools, and it was
all by hand."
The local villagers were grateful
and willing to lend a hand.
"One of my strongest memories
is of a woman carrying a toddler on
her back, pulling wire up the side of
the mountain, where we were struggling just to walk," Minish said.
The Georgia team described the
gratifying feeling of seeing a 72-yearMore online at www.georgiamagazine.org

TOMMY MINISH / JACKSON EMC

* Tops in his field: Tony Jordan, a retired
lineman from Marietta-based Cobb Electric Membership Corp. (EMC), has been
inducted into the International Lineman's
Hall of Fame,
part of the
International
Lineman's
Museum in
Shelby, N.C.
Honorees
are selected
by the museum's board
of directors,
and selection is based
on nominees' accomplishments in and
service to the industry and their communities. Jordan, who retired last year,
trained Cobb EMC apprentice linemen
and oversaw the co-op's lineman's-rodeo
teams that earned several championships in the annual safety events.

Lighting up lives more than 3,000 miles from home

NICK CHAPMAN / CARROLL EMC

COURTESY COBB EMC

Short takes

Tommy Minish, a lineman with Jeffersonbased Jackson EMC, takes a selfie with
Bolivian villagers. The
woman helped pull wire up
the side of the mountain
while carrying her toddler
on her back.
Tommy Stone, a lineman with
Marietta-based Cobb EMC,
works high above the Bolivian landscape.

old, lifelong farmer experience having electricity for the first time.
"We are a very
spoiled nation [in the
United States]. The people we encounter on
these trips are just so
gracious," said Richard
Davis, a right-of-way supervisor with CowetaFayette EMC who was
participating in his third international
project. "It's hard being that far away
from family, but it's worth it."
"The most rewarding part of this
experience was knowing that there
are families who can now do more
in their homes," Chapman said. "For
example, kids now have light to complete schoolwork."
The villagers presented the linemen with leis and sprinkled confetti
on their heads, which is a symbol of
abundance. Each lineman was given
a handmade alpaca-wool hat.
For more information about
NRECA International, go to nreca
international.coop.
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
http://www.nrecainternational.coop http://www.nrecainternational.coop http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - July 2018
