Montana Linemen’s Association Rodeo
Author: Matt Nelson
Montana Linemen’s Association Rodeo
Matt Nelson
The Montana Lineman’s Rodeo occurred at the Broadwater Fair and Rodeo Grounds on Friday, July 19th and Saturday, July 20th. This is the 31st Annual Lineman’s Rodeo but was the first time it came to Townsend. There was a memorial service on Friday evening, and then on Saturday morning, there was an opening ceremony, followed by several hours of competition by people from most of Montana counties and several states, plus a BBQ dinner, a silent auction, and a live auction, a 50/50 money donation, and an award ceremony. Raffle tickets were also sold for a 3rd prize Stihl Chainsaw, 2nd prize Blackstone grill and Lone Mountain cooler, and the 1st prize of a rifle.
Quoting from the Montana Linemen’s Rodeo Association website at https://www.mtlra.org:
“The Montana Lineman’s rodeo is an annual event held on the third Saturday in July. The purpose of the Lineman’s Rodeo is to demonstrate the skills line workers use every day to insure a safe, reliable electrical supply to the citizens of the Inter-mountain West. Public safety and public education are the missions of the Montana Lineman’s Rodeo Association, a 501(c)(3) organization of volunteers who administer, promote, and organize the annual Rodeo.”
The memorial ceremony was to honor past linemen. Jimmy Louder was the announcer and has done that for 37 years. He was joined by his wife Charlene. Each of the 25 linemen who had died in 2023 and 2024 had a memorial lantern with a lighted candle hung on a cable strung between two poles, and carried aloft by four climbers. Jimmy Louder read off the descriptions of each man, the information which was provided by Tabitha Dixon, the Recording Secretary for the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers Local 44 out of Butte. However, she lives in Helena.
Tabitha sent a list of the different categories of competition: “The categories are as follows:
Apprentice Construction, Apprentice Utility, and Apprentice REA/Co-op, Journeyman Lineman Construction, Utility, REA/Co-op, and mixed (teams are a mix of all 3 divisions). Both Apprentices and Journeyman had 4 tasks. The Apprentices do a speed climb, HURTMAN Rescue, a written test and 1 mystery event. The Journeymen also do a speed climb, HURTMAN Rescue, and 2 mystery events. The Journeyman's mystery events were an insulator change out and a transformer change out.” There was also a ladies' pole climbing event where the contestants had to climb up 25 feet and be the fastest to ring a bell.
Kyle Hintz, the Local 44 Assistant Business Manager handed out the 2024 Service Pins. He had a list of names beginning with people who had served 25 years, and on up to 65 years in 5-year increments. There were 8 names of people from the IBEW Local 44 ranging from 25 years to 50 years. 25 YEARS - Boe Shuman; 35 YEARS - Duane Mellinger; 45 YEARS - Calvin Long; 50 YEARS - Fred Clark, Chuck Dixon, John Finn, John Kougioulis, William Russell. John Finn and Tabitha’s father-in-law Chuck have been members of the IBEW for 50 years a piece.
There must have been at least 1000 people on Saturday. About 3 dozen utility poles were in the ground, and each of them swarmed with spectators and participants. A dozen dummies about the size of a person were near the top of their respective poles; During the HURTMAN Rescue two climbers scurried up the poles, and it was the job of these men to safely extract the dummy, who had either been injured or killed on the job. Max Huwitt, a judge from Pasadena, California, mentioned that each team of climbers was timed from the moment they left the ground, and also some other things were judged, but he didn’t elaborate. Usually, a crane was nearby to give assistance. This event was the most interesting to watch.
Another event that was fascinating was watching two men change out transformers. It is actually an extensive project to remove one, lower it to the ground, hoist up another one, and attach it to the pole.
Removing old insulators where wires are attached and replacing them with new ones involved sending up to the men some orange wire safety covers to protect the men from being electrocuted. Always training and safety are paramount, even when there were no powered wires on the poles during this rodeo.
It was also interesting watching ladies strap into safety harnesses and climb the pole to ring a bell. Bonney, one lady that this reporter saw, rang the bell and won Third Place. Several hours later at the rewards ceremony, she was still smiling. During the live auction, called by Jimmy Louder, a while later, her husband, Pat, had the winning bid of the picture of Montana with power poles going through it that Jalin Nelson (Niece of Kat and Russ Nolen, no relation to this reporter) had drawn.
While watching the ladies climb up the pole and ring a bell, you could tell we were in Montana. Jimmy Louder was talking to someone over the loudspeakers and asked this guy if he was a steak and potato man. “Nope, I am an elk and potato man!” was his reply.
Also during the regular auction, Audie Colvin bid on a large ice chest that was sealed with zip ties. It was packed with clothes and on the very bottom was a gift card for $500 that someone had donated. Lots of smiles!
Here are the results:
Ladies Pole Climb
3rd- Hattie Bonney 33.41 seconds
2nd-Yvonne Lekvold 23.53 seconds
1st-Kami Vanderpool 19.16 seconds, won a belt buckle made by MONTANA SILVERSMITHS
Back Hoe Rodeo
3rd- Jimmy Louder
2nd- Zac Smith
1st- Casey McGowan
Apprentice Construction
3rd-Ethan Crowl
2nd-Brandon Martwick
1st Adam Feuerborn
Apprentice Utility
3rd Kelly Johnston
2nd - Stephan Pulaski
1st -Brett Hale
Apprentice REA Co-Op
3rd Trystan Garcia
2nd Jon Devore
1st Leon Wieder
Line School
3rd-Chaz Stewart
2nd-Bryan Tempini
1st- Nolan Stark
Apprentice Top Overall
Brett Hale
Journeyman Lineman Division (Team Captain named)
JL Construction
JL Utility
3rd-Bob Bandy
2nd- Oscar Gonzales
2nd-Shane Bykonen
1st-Daniel Jameson
1st-Matt Katz
JL REA Co-Op
2nd-Dennis Crosby
1st-Kienan Keniston
JL Mixed
1st-Andy Newman
JL Top Overall
Matt Katz, Justin Mapel, Hunter Coe
These men won belt buckles made by MONTANA SILVERSMITHS. They are from IBEW Local 47, out of either Diamond Bar and/or Riverside, California.
Although this was the first Lineman’s Rodeo held in Townsend, the people are already planning on coming back next year.
Article Images
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Rifle winner Brad Johnson
Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
Image 2 Caption: **Ladies Climber Hattie Bonney
Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
Image 3 Caption: Transformer Changeout
Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
Image 4 Caption: Poles Setup with dummies for Hurt Man Rescue
Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
Image 5 Caption: **Team from Arizona retrieving Dummy for Hurt Man Rescue
Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
