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LINEMAN APPRECIATION DAY – Lamb County Electric Cooperative linemen, (L to R) are: Kendon Zahn, Mike McDaniel, Craig Johnson, Johnathan Salinas, Royce Merrifield, Matthew Thompson, Chris Love, Steven McCain, James Price, Jason Cardenas, Seth Hartley, Justin Brown, Michael Shipley, Guy Taylor, Jonas Camacho, Jody Pope, Chuck Williams, Landon Luna, and Oscar Zapata. LCEC expresses its “Thank you” to Lamb County EC’s Operations Department for your commitment, dedication, and service. (Submitted Photo)
Lineman Appreciation Day rolls around every April and can be traced back to 2013. Prior to that, there was no official day to recognize our linemen for the job they do day in and day out. A lot of our members probably wouldn’t recognize our office staff if they saw them out and about, but they sure do remember our linemen.
Being a lineman is a trade that requires a lot of training. One that not everyone is cut out for. They work a high-risk job, handling high voltages of electricity on a daily basis. Regardless of the weather, they always come to work. You can see them climbing a pole on below freezing days or up in a bucket when it’s so hot a cactus is looking for shade.
Part of being a lineman is never being, “off call.” Sure, we have scheduled “on call,” times, but if a storm hits, it’s all hands-on deck. Saying no is never really an option. That means leaving the little league game or your family Christmas to come in and work. These linemen are here to serve you, our members, and they never forget that.
Linemen are often times the first responders on scene. I served on the volunteer fire department in my previous role and any time there was a house fire, the lineman was the first person there to disconnect that meter to the house to prevent anyone from getting hurt by electricity. At pasture fires, they were there to pull fuses or fix lines. At wrecks, they would fix damaged poles and lines and try to get traffic flowing as quickly as possible.
There is a lot that goes with being a lineman, other than just working on poles and wire. There is training, testing, and there is relying on your fellow linemen to do their job, so you can do yours safely. Our linemen work together well and have a comradery that is something to see.
Lamb County EC has four departments within it: Operations, Engineering Services, Office Services, and Administrative Services. Each one works with the other to make sure we provide you, our members, with the absolute best quality of service you should expect from us. These linemen are the backbone of our industry, and without them there would be no need for positions like mine.
I want to say THANK YOU! to our linemen and all the employees at LCEC. We have proudly served our members since 1938, and we will continue that attitude of service into the future.