SLEMCO Power November-December 2013 [WEB]
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NOV/DEC 2013 SLEMCOPOWER TAILGATE TIME! Is the game the excuse for a party or the party an excuse for a game? PAGE 4 EMPLOYEE SERVICE PAGE 2 KITCHEN ISLANDS PAGE 8 BETTER BULBS PAGE 9 PSLEMCO OWER TakeNote Volume 62 No. 6 November/December 2013 SLEMCO HONORS EMPLOYEE The Official Publication of the Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation 3420 NE Evangeline Thruway P.O. Box 90866 Lafayette, Louisiana 70509 Phone 337-896-5384 www.slemco.com MILESTONES BOARD OF DIRECTORS LEMCO will honor employees and is Cheryl Guidry, a customer services ACADIA PARISH directors celebrating major mile- supervisor from Arnaudville. Bryan G. Leonards, Sr., Sstones or retirement at its annual Four employees are celebrating 30 Secretary-Treasurer awards ceremony in December. Those years each with the company. They are Merlin Young receiving awards have a combined Terri Benoit, a personnel representative ST. MARTIN PARISH 718 years of service to SLEMCO and from Carencro; Lyndon Champagne, William Huval, First Vice President its members (Lucky Account Number a dispatcher from Washington; Paula Adelle Kennison 4500366200). Lejeune, an office services clerk from LAFAYETTE PARISH Retiring after 39 years is James Carencro, and Tracey Walton, a customer Jerry Meaux, President Campbell of Maurice, an underground service representative from Melville. Carl Comeaux ST. LANDRY PARISH specialist; Warehouse Clerk Joe Culotta Celebrating 25 years each with the Leopold Frilot, Sr. of Lafayette is retiring with company are Line Foreman Gary G. Soileau 29 years of service; George Kevin J. Benoit of Branch; VERMILION PARISH Fawcett, director of mar- Line Foreman Paul Guidry Joseph David Simon, Jr., keting from Lafayette, is of Abbeville; Substation Second Vice President retiring with 33 years Foreman Michael Hebert Charles Sonnier of service; Substation of Carencro, and Shane ATTORNEY Foreman Steve Guidroz Theriot, a meter reader James J. Davidson, III of Opelousas is retir- from Breaux Bridge. EXECUTIVE STAFF ing after 32 years of Two employees and J.U. Gajan service; Linda Guillory, a one board member mark Chief Executive Officer & General Manager CAD/CAM specialist from 20 years each with SLEMCO: Glenn Tamporello Director of Operations Lafayette, is retiring after 31 Board Member Joseph David Jim Laque years of service; Kenneth Hebert of Simon Jr. of Gueydan; Gary David Director of Engineering Crowley, a serviceman, is retiring after 32 of Youngsville, an underground crew Katherine Domingue Chief Financial Officer years of service; Chief Financial Officer foreman, and Mona Stout of Opelousas, Gary Smith of Sunset is retiring after a customer service representative. SLEMCO POWER STAFF 27 years of service; Class A Lineman Celebrating 10 years each with Mary Laurent, CCC, CKAE, MIP Editor James Randy Soileau of Ville Platte is SLEMCO are Meter Reader Shawn retiring after 27 years of service; Service Bowser of Lafayette; Meter Reader SLEMCO POWER (USPS 498-720, ISSN Dispatcher Glenn Speer of Breaux Bridge Casey Carter of Carencro; Class A 0274-7685) is published bimonthly by Southwest is retiring after 33 years of service; Lance Lineman Shane Dugas of Lafayette; Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation, 3420 NE Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, LA Lambrecht, a warehouse clerk from Customer Records Clerk Brandi Hardy of 70509-0866. Periodicals postage paid at Lafayette, Lafayette, is retiring after 30 years, and Arnaudville; Class B Lineman Brandon LA 70507. Lineman Keith LeBlanc of Opelousas is Hebert of Arnaudville, and Underground POSTMASTER: send address changes to SLEMCO, retiring after 30 years of service. Crew Foreman Barry Letchworth of P.O. Box 90866, Lafayette, LA 70509-0866. Celebrating 35 years with SLEMCO Lafayette. • Cover: Charlie Troville. Photo by P.C. Piazza 2014 SLEMCO HOLIDAYS All SLEMCO offices will be closed for holidays on the following dates: JANUARY 1 – New Years Day SEPTEMBER 1 – Labor Day MARCH 4 – Mardi Gras NOVEMBER 27 & 28 – Thanksgiving APRIL 18 – Good Friday DECEMBER 24 & 25 – Christmas Eve MAY 26 – Memorial Day and Christmas Day JULY 4 – Independence Day JANUARY 1, 2015 – New Years Day Page 2 ❘ SLEMCO Power ENERGY SAVING IDEAS USE ONLINE TOOLS TO CUT HOME ENERGY USE If you know how much energy you are using, you can conserve and possibly save some cash. Unfortunately, understanding energy use in your home is not as straight- forward as for your car. Based on your miles per gallon, it’s easy to understand whether your car is using energy efficiently. But getting a handle on your home’s kilowatt usage is not as easy. But online tools can help put home energy use at your fingertips, collect information on your home to determine problems areas and offer solutions. To get started, obtain your cur- rent cost per kilowatt-hour from your SLEMCO bill or online on our web- site’s Rates Comparison (http://www. slemco.com/site312.php). The Department of Energy’s Jonathan Clements, Lineman Apprentice Home Energy Saver (http://hes.lbl. Photo by Curtis Darrah gov/consumer) was the first web- based, do-it-yourself online energy NEW EQUIPMENT INCREASES audit tool for homeowners. By filling in information about your home, you can estimate how much energy LINEMAN SAFETY and money you’ll save through specific energy-efficiency improve- fter years of free climbing, SLEMCO descend. The device includes a second- ments (Lucky Account Number linemen are now using a new protec- ary lanyard. This is used so the lineman 1202350000). A tion device that helps prevent falling is continually tethered to the pole when EnergySavvy.com is the latest way from a pole while climbing or working. crossing over obstructions on the line, for consumers to get online energy Eighty-four employees were issued a such as cable or telephone attachments audits through its free resource for TM SuperSqueeze belt recently to help (Lucky Account Number 2130190300). homeowners at www.energysavvy. secure them during line work. Designed by linemen who witnessed com/home-energy. Users can click When used correctly, the device keeps the fatal fall of a co-worker, the Super- on graphics of equipment and build- lineman constantly secured and reduces SqueezeTM has been refined over the ing materials to help answer easy injury. If the lineman slips and begins to last several years to make pole climbing questions. The program then displays fall, the SuperSqueezeTM cinches tightly as safe and efficient as possible. The a score and areas needing improve- around the pole, using the worker’s body added protection ensures SLEMCO ment. The website even offers weight and gravity to minimize the dis- employees’ safety—for themselves and information about tax rebates and tance of the fall to mere inches. Then the their families. • incentives, as well as the opportunity lineman can either continue climbing or to contact a local contractor. • SLEMCO Power ❘ Page 3 “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE” CHAMPIONS he University of Louisiana at Lafayette has a reputation for some of the nation’s best tailgating. Around Cajun Field at home games, large screen TVs display instant replays through a thin haze of grill smoke. Coolers of beverages help beat the summer heat lingering into mid-Septem- Tber. Flags and pennant help identify groups amidst a flowing sea of red— those tens of thousands of Raging Cajun fans—whether the destination is a half-million dollar RV in a reserved slot in the shadow of the north end zone or a modest grill and canopy on the parking lot periphery. Tailgating has a life of its own beyond the game, a sport unto itself for families, generation after generation. University of Southwestern Louisiana alumni who first tailgated in the 1970s continue today with their children, now students at present-day UL Lafayette. Years from now many will tailgate in the same spots with their children’s children. Page 4 ❘ SLEMCO Power “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE” OF TAILGATING BY CURTIS DARRAH | PHOTOS BY P.C. PIAZZA TAILGATE SAFELY CLEAN. Wash hands if preparing food. Unclean hands cause half of food-borne illness. SEPARATE. Defrost meats at home. Seal raw or thawed meat in plastic wrap to avoid contaminating other food. Use one cooler for drinks and another for uncooked meat. REFRIGERATE. Use a refrig- erator thermometer and pack food with enough ice to main- tain temperatures below 40°F. GRILL. Use a clean food ther- mometer and cook to a mini- mum of 145° for beef and pork, 160° for ground meats and 165° for poultry, hot dogs or sausage. Always cook on a firm, level surface and away from hanging All tailgating areas around Cajun Field are reserved and decorations. Keep kids, crowds require a pass, some highly sought after and jealously guarded at and flying footballs away from renewal time. But lacking such reservations, traditional tailgating the grill: assign someone to keep in the literal sense—serving food and drink from the back of a car an eye on it as long as it is hot. or truck—is allowed in the general parking areas as long as it does Bottled water or melted ice can not interfere with parking. So bring your cooler and join the party. extinguish coals before you head Just don’t think you’ll outdo the crew of professional cooks in to the game, leaving a cool from local restaurants who arrive with a cargo trailer of cooking grill to pack for the trip home. gear, including fryers, burners and a “Cajun microwave” for the TOSS. Throw away any 38-pound pig that they have been roasting since late morning. perishable food before entering Their first course of shrimp fritters with green onions was long the stadium. Food that sits out at gone by the time this succulent pork was ready for their ravenous 90° for an hour is unsafe. • crowd (Lucky Account Number 4500157900).