To recognize the dangers and difficulties their job entails year around, each April we honor our linemen on National Lineworker Appreciation Day (April 11). Lineworkers are the first ones to respond when the lights go out and are always ready to do what it takes to keep our homes and businesses connected to electricity that we rely on every day. It has been that way at LaGrange County REMC for over 85 years — rain or shine, day or night.

Being a lineworker is not for everyone. It requires dedication, a passion for service, years of training and nerves of steel. After all, few of us can say our jobs entail climbing utility poles, handling high-voltage cables and performing repairs while hanging several feet off the ground. Add to that the fact that they often work at night, during storms and in any temperature, and can be called for an emergency repair at any time, even at nights, weekends, holidays and during family dinners. But that is just another day on the job for a lineworker. 

We rely on our lineworkers to help maintain and repair over 600 miles of power lines, serving approximately 7,000 members across our service area. What they do is an essential element to our mission of bringing you, our members, the reliable electricity and communications services you need. So, the next time you reach for a light switch and flip your lights on, remember that a lineworker made that possible. Our deepest gratitude goes out to our lineworkers and their families. Thank you for helping power up our communities!

Along with our journeymen linemen, we also have three employees who are going through the Rural Electric Apprenticeship Program (REAP). Owen Bowersox and Cole Howe are in their second year of the four-year program. Atticus Klopfenstein is in his first year. After completing 576 hours of classroom and skills instruction as well as 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, these three men will become journeymen linemen and receive an associate degree in applied science through Ivy Tech Community College.