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JANUARY Quick Hits Winter Weather Icy out there? Stay off roads if possible. Find driving tips and other ways to prepare for winter weather at StormCenter.coop
Soup’s On National Soup Month has arrived, perfect for chilly nights. Get a jump on it with our stew recipe on page 32.
Day of Service This Martin Luther King Day (January 17), find a community group near you that needs volunteers to lend a hand.
Energy Tip Are your fans winter-ready? Make sure they’re switched to turn clockwise to circulate warm air around the room.
Speed Under Pressure: Lineworkers Test Lifesaving Skills Pole Top Rescue Competition held at Nash Community College
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In November, North Carolina’s top electric cooperative lineworkers assembled at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount to compete for the title of State Champion in the 2021 Pole Top Rescue Competition. The biennial competition pitted lineworkers against the clock and each other as they demonstrate essential lifesaving skills and provided an up-close look at the speed, technique and safety knowledge required to maintain the lines that power the lives of electric cooperative members. To advance to this state championship, each competitor had to win a similar competition at their local cooperative. During the competition, each lineworker executed a Meet the 2021 Pole Top Champs scenario in which a coworker Pictured, top to bottom is unconscious atop a utilFirst Place: Levi Fagan, EnergyUnited, Time: 1:53.37 ity pole. The competitor, Second Place: Jason Helms, Union Power Cooperative, dressed in full climbing Time: 1:57.90 gear, had to radio for help, scale 20 feet up the utility Third Place: Cody Buck, Brunswick Electric, Time: 1:59.83 pole, lower a 105-pound mannequin (nicknamed Not pictured: Chris Griffin of Union Power maintains “Kool”) and begin lifesavthe overall record with his 2014 time of 01:33.47. ing procedures. All North carolinacountry.com/extras Carolina electric cooperative These guys are fast — this is a competition lineworkers must complete this same you have to see to believe! Watch them scenario in less than five minutes to in action on our website. maintain their certification to work on electric co-op lines. “This championship highlights just The competition was held for the how rigorous and challenging it is to first time at Nash Community College be a lineworker,” said Louis Duke, thanks to a valuable partnership mainspokesperson for North Carolina’s tained with North Carolina’s Electric Electric Cooperatives. “These highly Cooperatives. Nash Community trained individuals play a critical College (nashcc.edu) offers critical role in co-op operations, and we degree and certificate programs in can’t thank them enough for the vital Electric Lineman Technology that service they provide to our members help support the vital line workforce and communities.” across rural North Carolina.
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