Cooperative Living May 2015 - 4

VIEWPOINT by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 69, No. 5
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA J. EMERY
Field Editor
JANET ROGERS BAILEY
Production Manager
LAURIE MILLS,
Apple Eye Studio, LLC
Graphic Designer
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
SUSAN C. GLISSON
Advertising Assistant
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Fax: (804) 346-3448
Email: bsherrod@odec.com
Web: www.co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
OLIN S. DAVIS III
Chairman
LARRY C. HOWDYSHELL
Vice Chairman
JAMES E. HUFFMAN
Secretary
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Treasurer
JACKSON E. REASOR
President
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Vice President
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, R. Dodd Obenshain,
A&N; Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser,
BARC; George N. Goin, Jr., Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia;
Olin S. Davis III, Michael I. Wheatley, Choptank;
Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon, Community;
James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, Craig-Botetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg;
J. Steve Thomas, Sr., Greg W. White, Northern Neck;
J. Manley Garber, Stan C. Feuerberg, Northern Virginia;
Dale McNiel, Randell W. Meyers, Powell Valley;
Herbert R. Patrick, Michael E. Malandro, Prince George;
Richard C. Oliver, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock;
Larry C. Howdyshell, Myron D. Rummel, Shenandoah
Valley; Frank W. Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
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Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
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COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473300)
is published 10 times a year, monthly
except for combined March/April and
November/ December issues, by the Va., Md.
& Del. Association of Electric Cooperatives.
POSTMASTER, address changes should be
sent to: Cooperative Living, 4201 Dominion
Boulevard, Suite 101, Glen Allen, VA 23060,
(804) 346-3344. Periodicals Postage paid at
Glen Allen, VA, and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4.90 per year for members of
subscribing co-ops; $10 per year for all others.
ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
premise that the merchandise and services offered
are accurately described and willingly sold
to customers at the advertised price. Neither this
magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any
products or services advertised herein. If any
readers encounter non-compliance with these
standards, they are asked to inform the Editor.
WALKING THEWOOD
Each year, lineworkers from our region get a chance
to 'walk the wood,' not to bring the lights back on, but
to light up the faces of family members and friends.
A
s you exit Route 1 north of Richmond and
ascend the small rise toward the Caroline
County Agricultural Fairgrounds, the distant
view can be confusing, as your eyes seemingly see a
fleet of foremasts and mainmasts, shorn of sails, anchored
in an emerald sea.
A closer inspection, of course, reveals the masts
to be wooden climbing poles, firmly fixed in a greening
field, awaiting the arrival of apprentice and journeyman
lineworkers, whose skills and tenacity will
be tested throughout a sunny, wind-whipped Saturday
in late March. In this day's scored and timed
events, and in an equipment operator's rodeo the
prior day at the same site, utility line professionals
demonstrated the complex array of skills they must
possess, from physical strength and agility, to rigorous
adherence to safety practices, to the demanding
tests of mind and spirit needed to harness a force as
powerful and punishing as electricity.
The 13th annual Terex Gaff-n-Go Lineman's and
Equipment Operator's Rodeo, held March 27-28,
drew lineworkers from seven states, as far west as
Kentucky, as far north as Rhode Island, as far south
as the Carolinas, and of course from Virginia,
Maryland and Delaware, too.
Hosted since 2008 by the trade association
that serves 15 electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland and Delaware (and publishes this
magazine), this annual gathering has become one
of the largest regional lineman rodeos in the East.
And its big corral gets bigger every year, featuring
lots of electric cooperative teams of course, but also
teams from investor-owned power companies like
Dominion Virginia Power and Duke Energy, as
well as a four-soldier Army team from the 249th
Engineer Battalion.
This year's rodeo drew more than 150 lineworker
competitors, plus almost 70 judges, along
with a considerable number of family members,
friends, work colleagues and members of the general
public, pushing total attendance to over 500 folks.
Everyone there was either demonstrating, celebrating
or supporting the craft of electric utility linework,
the most important, most dangerous, and
often the most forgotten element in the delivery of
electricity to homes and businesses.
Fact is, line crew workers are so good at what
they do that the rest of us hardly think about electricity,
assuming its constant availability, thankfully
noticing it only rarely, by its absence. When the de2
Richard
Johnstone
livery of this hugely reliable daily necessity is interrupted
- usually by weather extremes such as
winter ice, spring windstorms, summer thunderstorms,
or fall hurricanes - we expect its return
as soon as possible.
Working to accomplish this are these highly
skilled " wood walkers, " who toil tenaciously to
repair lines and restore service, often in weather
conditions that keep the rest of us indoors.
Given the inherent dangers they face every day,
and the importance of the work they perform, lineworkers
are rightfully viewed as front-line responders.
Sometimes, they must complete their work,
and restore power, before other first responders can
begin their life-guarding and life-saving efforts.
So it seems only appropriate to set aside two
days each year to honor these highly trained, proud
professionals. Most people who attend the rodeo, of
course, focus on the exciting climbing events, where
linemen strap gaffs onto their boots, check their fallprotection
belts, and adroitly hoist themselves up a
wooden pole, four stories in the air. If not exactly
poetry in motion, it's at least manly prose in action.
Such demonstrations of power and precision
always draw " ooohs and aaahs " from the appreciative
crowd, and most of the ink and the airtime from
the media covering the day's action.
But to understand the real heart of the rodeo,
cast your eyes downward, to ground level.
To the small children gazing in awe as their
father completes the " hurt man " event, rescuing a
life-size mannequin " stranded " at the top of a pole.
To the parents of the young apprentice lineworker
competing in his first rodeo, whose pride in
his burgeoning skills is exceeded only by that in his
mother's and father's eyes.
To the relaxed look on the face of the veteran
journeyman's wife, now finally able to enjoy watching
him safely in action, rather than worrying about
him from afar, during stormy nights or icy mornings.
And, if you're able to stick around till the events
are winding down, you'll see young and old lineworkers
swapping team t-shirts, sharing stories,
renewing friendships from rodeos past, building new
ones in rodeo present.
In the end, the job of each member of this
tightly knit fraternity of professionals is to endure
danger and discomfort, so you and I don't have to.
They don't just walk the talk.
They walk the wood. n
Cooperative Living/May 2015
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2015

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