Junior Curtis has seen a lot of changes in his 50 years working on the lines at Se-Ma-No Electric Cooperative, including bucket trucks like this one. 50 YEARS ON THE LINE 14 RURAL MISSOURI | MAY 2023 Junior Curtis hangs up his hooks after a long co-op career by Jim McCarty | jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop B yron " Junior " Curtis never thought the job he landed back in 1973 would lead to a 50-year career. He was just looking for work. On Feb. 16, the 73-year-old Se-Ma-No Electric Cooperative lineman hung up his hooks after a long and eventful five decades with the cooperative. " When I went to work out here it was just a place to work, you know? It was a job and I needed it, " he says. " They hired me to work on the right of way. It wasn't very long our line superintendent told me to go get some hooks and a belt. " Junior bought a used set of climbing hooks and a telephone lineman belt for $20. He recalls the first time he climbed a pole for the co-op: " Of course I fell down the first pole. From then on I got better. It was just free climbing. We would grab ahold with your hands behind the pole and