Great West MS 150 Bike Tour 'Ultimate Electrical Team' Volunteers

From left, Local 68 members Bill Thomas, Keith Hewitt and Brian Salem. Bikers not pictured are: Local 68 President Danny Curtin, Steve Kimsey of Kimsey Electric, and Eric Vera of North/Western Electric.

The year 2003 saw the usual examples of IBEW members giving their time and energy to worthy causes. Among them was a whiz team of volunteer IBEW/NECA cyclists who completed a 150-mile, two-day bike ride through the Colorado Rockies to raise funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in July.

The "Ultimate Electrical Team" bikers-sponsored by IBEW Denver Local 68 and Rocky Mountain Chapter NECA-nailed the strenuous course with flying union colors. Other volunteers set up and staffed an IBEW/NECA-sponsored rest stop.

"Our banner was displayed at the start line, alongside banners of several general contractors we work with," said Local 68 President Danny Curtin. "Also, our IBEW/NECA logo was printed on T-shirts for riders and sponsors. The rest stop booth was a great place to market ourselves."
Curtain said Local 68 proposed the idea and IBEW contractors supported it as a way to contribute to a worthy cause and increase community awareness of the union electrical industry.

A new slogan, "The Ultimate in the Electrical Industry," was adopted when it was discovered that area non-union contractors were capitalizing on the "Quality Connection" designation, Curtin said. "Our new logo attracted lots of attention. Volunteers answered questions about IBEW/NECA all morning. Through partnering we put ourselves out to the public in a positive light."

Union volunteers for the MS 150 effort pulled off a great success. "Jim Kelly, vice president of our local, was the first to volunteer to handle all the details of running the rest stop," Curtin said. "That meant setting up at 4 a.m., and our booth was up on a mountaintop." Other volunteers supplied tables, chairs, tents for shade, coolers, acted as road marshals-and made 2,500 peanut butter/jelly sandwiches for the riders. Among the IBEW volunteers were: Local 68 Treasurer John Wolf and his wife, Debby, JIPF Trustees Bob Henry and Bill Kremsner; Local 68 members Kenneth Nelson, Jim Spenser, and Donnie Ramette and his daughter Molly.

Voted best cheerleaders were Sue Withrow and her daughter, who spent the day standing atop a 30-foot cliff cheering on the riders. Sue's husband, Lloyd, suffers from MS and is on a disability pension from Local 68.

The six cyclists on the IBEW/NECA "Ultimate Electric Team" were President Curtin, Local 68 members Bill Thomas, Keith Hewitt and Brian Salem; Steve Kimsey of Kimsey Electric; and Eric Vera of North/Western Electric.

"People along the roadway were saying thank-you to the riders as they passed. They were saying: 'Thank you for my mother, father, brother, sister-they have MS.

"All this left me with a great sense of pride for our industry," Curtin said.

IBEWCURRENTS

January/February 2004 IBEW Journal