Our Electric Department employees hit the rodeo trail this spring, including an event right here in Greenville! Rodeos help lineworkers fine-tune their skills and safety practices.   

NCAMES Rodeo  
Our GUC team competed at the 24th Annual North Carolina Association of Municipal Electric Systems (NCAMES) Conference and Lineman's Rodeo in Greenville on May 18th. Public power teams from around the state competed in events that test their knowledge and ability to perform tasks safely and quickly.   

Rodeos involve events for Apprentices (less than four years of experience) and Journeymen (more than four years). GUC's Journeyman team included Electric Lineworkers Lin Bunting, Brian Baker, Steven Briley, and David Guy. 

Competing in the Apprentice division were Electric Lineworkers Ridge Bailey, Hunter Forrest, Carter Gaskins, CJ Forrest, Tucker Foell, Cole Hartley, Jordan Lang, Bobby Lewis, and Oscar Meeks.  

Overhead Crew Leader II Mike Ashley and Underground Maintenance Crew Leader II Mike McGowan served as the team coaches.  

In the Apprentice competitions, CJ came in 3rd place Overall. All the Apprentices had perfect scores and were placed based on their time. CJ squeezed into 3rd just one second faster than Bobby, who placed 4th Overall. 

Congrats to the rest of our Apprentices on the following event placements: Jordan for 2nd in 100 Amp Switch, and Bobby for 4th; Cole for 3rd in 180 Cross Arm, and Bobby for 4th; Oscar for 1st in Double Dead-end, Jordan for 2nd, and CJ for 3rd; and Oscar for 1st in Hurtman Rescue, CJ for 2nd, and Jordan for 5th. 

In the Journeyman Division, Lin Bunting placed 3rd in the 4kv Poly Bell Changeout. 

Special thanks to the Electric Department for setting up and taking down the rodeo field. Thank you also to the following employees for volunteering at the event as competition judges or check-in attendants: Shawn Adams (Electric, judge), Lee Ausbon (Electric, judge), Cortney Bazemore (HR), Anna Chance (Electric), Joey Dash (Electric, judge), Sam Evans (Safety), James Forrest (Electric, judge), Angie Fuller (HR), Ryan Hardee (Electric, judge), Leah Herring (HR), Trinity Hines (Legal), Casey Jones (Electric, judge), Ivory Jordan (Electric), Cathy McGowan (Electric), Natalie O’Neal (Electric), Kathy Pate (Electric), Autumn Pollard (Electric), Timmy Pollard (Electric, judge), Lena Previl (HR), Jessica Sears (Safety), Richie Shreves (HR), Juanita Sims (HR), Gavin Smith (Electric, judge), Kelly Smith (Safety), Paula Vinciguerra (Electric), Tracy Williams (HR), Jeffery Williams (Electric, judge), and Gary Yarrell (Safety). 

APPA Rodeo
Employees from the Electric Department also represented Greenville Utilities at the APPA Lineworker's Rodeo in Kansas City, Kansas, April 1st. Public power teams from around the country competed in a series of competitive events demonstrating the safe work practices that lineworkers use in their jobs every day. Forty-five journeyman teams and 100 apprentices competed.  

David, Steven, Brian, and Lin competed on the GUC Journeyman team while Bobby, Cole, Jordan, and Tucker competed as Apprentices. The Apprentice group took a written test before both groups headed to the competition field, where all the events involved installations and other tasks on a 40-foot utility pole.  

Our Journeyman team placed 19th Overall out of 45 teams from across the country! 

Thank you to Mike Ashley and Mike McGowen for coaching our rodeo teams again this year. Thank you also to Control Room Operator I Cathy McGowan for snapping photos of our team at the APPA rodeo, as well as Erin Walton, Karin Fullington, and Emily Garner with Public Information for NCAMES rodeo photos, videos, and banquet assistance, and John Powell (Electric) for his service on the NCAMES Board and event coordination.  

Click here to see more photos and videos.