Cooperative Living May 2017 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
LAURIE MILLS,
Apple Eye Studio, LLC
Graphic Designer
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
MARY HOWELL
Classified Ads
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@vmdaec.com
Web: www.co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
LARRY C. HOWDYSHELL
Chairman
JAMES E. HUFFMAN
Vice Chairman
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Secretary
FLETCHER B. JONES
Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson, Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N.
Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Michael
I. Wheatley, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon,
Community; James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, CraigBotetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell G.
Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck; J. Manley Garber, Stan C.
Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell W. Meyers,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Micheal E. Malandro, Prince
George; Richard C. Oliver, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry
C. Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings, Shenandoah Valley; Frank
W. Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 346-3344
National Advertising Representative: NCM,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of the NCM network of
publications, reaching more than
8 million homes and businesses.
PRESSRUN . . . . . . . . . 520,107
COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) 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: $4.99 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.
Through rain and wind and weather, modern-day cowboys keep the power
rollin', rollin', rollin' across the landscape. On May 19 and 20, you can see
some of the very best in action at Meadow Event Park north of Richmond.
A
s a small boy back in the early 1960s,
I had several favorite TV shows,
most of them Saturday morning
cartoons. With nighttime TV viewing restricted
by chores, homework and early bedtime,
I nonetheless had a primetime favorite I was
allowed to watch: " Rawhide. "
This show absolutely had it all. Let's start
with characters that a 19-inch screen could
barely contain: tough but fair trail boss Gil Favor
... hard-charging Rowdy Yates (played by a very
young Clint Eastwood) ... and cranky cook
Wishbone, his wagon seemingly filled to
overflowing with every ingredient and
implement of cookery needed to feed dozens
of hungry trail hands, three times a day for
weeks on end.
Then there were the great stories told week
after week, with dashes of high drama, splashes
of low comedy, generous stretches of suspense,
and lots of lively gunplay.
There was also the show's stark cinematography,
serving up Western landscapes of mountains
and mesas, flatlands and rivers, deserts and dust,
and lots and lots of cattle: an ocean of horns
and hooves bobbing toward the horizon, a
dramatic tableau of flickering black-and-white
images, bathing the eager eyeballs of my
6-year-old self.
Then there was the show's calling card, the
signature song by Frankie Laine. " Rollin', rollin',
rollin', though the streams are swollen, keep
them doggies rollin', Rawhide! Through rain and
wind and weather, hell-bent for leather. ... "
The show is now a distant-albeit-pleasant
memory, but the spirit of Rawhide lives on. In
your community. In your neighborhood. In fact,
at your electric cooperative. Specifically, in the
guise of the line-crew members who keep the
lights on for you and 1.3 million other Virginians
who receive their electricity from one of the
state's 13 member-owned electric cooperatives.
2
When you think about it, there's a lot in
common between a trail hand and a lineworker.
There's a love of the outdoors. There's work that
is physically and mentally demanding. There's
the need to get the job done through " rain and
wind and weather, " and, for that matter, through
hurricanes and ice storms and blizzards, too.
And most sobering, the work is unforgiving and
dangerous, where even one small mistake could
leave you maimed, or dead.
Later this month, on May 19 and 20, over
150 lineworkers from several states in our
region will gather at Meadow Event Park
north of Richmond, and take part in the friendly
competition of a " lineman's rodeo. " The lines
atop the 40-foot poles won't be energized, of
course, but the lineworkers will be, excited to
demonstrate their tremendous skills and safe
work practices in front of hundreds of cheering
family members, friends, co-workers and
members of the public.
As they take part in timed events that
simulate some of the challenges they face
on the job, these modern-day cowboys will
demonstrate a few of the key skills a lineworker
must have, from climbing poles, to changing
out cross-arms, to rescuing an injured
" colleague, " in this case a mannequin.
Though the events are timed, the most
important " S " word is not Speed; it's Safety.
Since every move could be your last, lineworkers
focus first on safety, for themselves, their crew
mates, and the members of the public they serve.
And they do so every second of every minute of
every hour they're on the job, day or night,
good weather or bad.
So if you'd like to see some of today's best
" high-flying cowboys, " join us on May 19 and 20
at Meadow Event Park, as electric cooperatives
from Virginia, Maryland and Delaware proudly
host the 15th annual Gaff-n-Go Lineman's Rodeo.
Details are available at www.gaff-n-go.com. 
www.co-opliving.com
Rawhide!
http://www.co-opliving.com http://www.gaff-n-go.com http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living May 2017
