A Public Power Employee Tribute...."Sparky"

By Joe Maurath, Jr.; posted January 5, 2014

View Original (1600 x 1200) 379KB

 


Very few who work within the public sector make 50 years of service. Better yet more than that and still going strong on the job to this day.

This ICON PicturePoster contribution is dedicated to "Sparky". He works for one of the many Public Power communities here in New England and has been enjoying his employment with the municipality he has been working for since he was hired in 1960 as a meter reader.

He got meters read in twice the time compared to his predecessors and the management surely was admired to the n-th degree with his productivity and dedication, especially when fighting snowdrifts and struggling through all kinds of New England storms to get his meter books read and completed by the end of the day. Often he would keep going into darkness on his own time (without asking for a penny of overtime) to get readings after the office closed so that accurate monthly billing could be sent out. The office personel knew where his route was and when he did not return after the 4:30PM Light Plant office closing, they knew approximately where he was and the night troubleman who worked the shift from then until 1AM did a few drive-arounds to make sure he was okay. Readings were NOT done after dusk.

His exemplary performance got him into the Line Department around 1963. Sparky served in the Korean War and did a lot of line work for communications and electric lines in the Pacific. He soon made his way up the light department ladder but only to a first-class lineman (and not foreman) and that was by his own choice. Sparky also had a lot of technical experience working with transformers and instrumentation during his service to our Country.

This experience made him a widely known town hero since he was able to re-energize a main transformer serving the town that was damaged during a bad thunderstorm in the mid or later 1960s. Nobody....and I mean nobody....else dared to come close to this prehistoric looking "thing" (transformer) because it had been at the central station since the 20s and never needed any attention. However the lightning-struck "Tron" as the transformer was called, needed timely attention.

Replacing "Tron" would have cost about $75,000. Hiring an engineering consultant to find out what went wrong (he never said what) had a price tag of about 10% of that. A photo of something looking like Tron will be posted later if an original cannot be found.

Sparky had "Tron" de-energized and found a somewhat simple repair needed inside of it. "Simple" by his words only. After about $200 in replacement parts and about eight hours of his time, Tron was fixed. As the switch was thrown from the outside grid, he stood nearly in front of it in full confidence that nothing would blow up or otherwise go amok. Sparks flew for a few seconds but Tron worked perfectly. Everyone else viewed at a safe distance away. Hence he earned his name "Sparky".

Tron worked like a swiss-watch ever thereafter, until the town upgraded to a higher-voltage distribution system around 1990.

Drained of transformer oil, "Tron" was available to any employee who wanted him for the going price of scrap. Sparky would have been the first-in-line however prior backyard displays through the 1960s caused a lot of neighborhood furor. Not to mention a divorce from his wife in 1970 who finally got sick and tired looking out a big finned 600 kva transformer bank in dark grayish-black in plain vision with other big clunky, outdated utility memorabilia ("stuff") right outside her dainty kitchen windows.

Tron was offered to me but there was absolutely no way to get this big hulk from there to here. Sparky said it took a very creative airlift from a Navy coastal barge to get it to its station location.

Sadly Tron was cut into pieces in 1993 after fluid draining.

Sparky remained rather upset about his forementioned divorce about his backyard substation display (no photos available at this time). He was further upset about the New Tron(s) which actually are three huge boxy-personality-less transformers in light gray that have absolutely no personality to them, he says. A consultant and a full-time employee engineer oversee them as well as their circuits and instrumentation, etc.

When asked why the old "Tron" hummed so loudly by neighbors he always replied: "It doesn't know the words" (lol)

Sparky nevertheless continues with his public utility service to this day with pride.

He doesn't read too many meters anymore (although he does do some short, easier routes when needed)...answers the phone, marks undergound cables before excavations (he knows every single wire in town). Nobody bothers him in his little cubby hole of an office and if you have a personal problem whether it be others within the organization bugging you or if its family stuff....he is there with lots of wisdom and advice.

Been there, done that....and very proudly so, with plenty of years and experience in life and on the job.

393477275