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.
As 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 line-worker
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
delivery 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 fall-protection 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.
