Kaukauna Utilities Wins Grand Championship at MEUW Lineman's Rodeo

On Friday, June 18, 2010 Kaukauna Utilities sponsored the Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW) 5th annual 2010 MEUW Lineman’s Rodeo in Little Chute, Wisconsin.

There were exciting twists in this year’s event! The structure of the day was a mutual aid training exercise planned to improve the skills and knowledge of participating team members. Similar to a mutual aid scenario, job assignments were distributed to team members the morning of the event.

This year’s structure included three-man teams to ensure that participating utilities fully utilized the skills and experience of their crew members. Emphasis was placed on job layout so a wide range of experience was needed for each participating team. As always, safety and good work practices determined this year’s winners. Total score from the mutual aid event and pole top rescue was used to determine overall winners. There was no need for teams to practice for this year’s event as participant’s everyday “on the job” experience is the only skill that was necessary.

Because this year’s Rodeo was conducted as a training exercise, it was held on a workday to encourage more participation from MEUW member communities. The morning began with a group breakfast, followed by a question and answer period. The day’s events concluded with the awards ceremony.

Awards were given for the top three teams in the Mutual Aid Event and to the top three teams in pole top rescue. Kaukauna Utilities' Lineman, Tony Stobbe, was recognized as MEUW Pole Top Rescue Champion. This year’s champion was determined by the best score and time from the Pole Top Rescue team event. The overall MEUW Lineman State Champion team was determined by the combination scores of each event. This year's championship team was from Kaukauna Utilities consisting of Tony Stobbe, Tyler Leick and Josh Rohan. Kaukauna Utilities' teams have been Grand Champions in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. They place second in 2007.