Local 110 retiree John Graff (R) and journeyman Dave Slattery volunteered Saturday at the Disabled Veterans Rest Camp in Marine on St. Croix.
MARINE ON ST. CROIX – The Disabled Veterans Rest Camp in Washington County is expanding the number of campsites available to military veterans and their families, an effort that received a big boost last weekend from St. Paul-based Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Fifty-seven journeymen and apprentices from Local 110 volunteered their labor over the course of three days, helping install 42 new pedestals that will supply water and electricity to the Rest Camp’s newest campsites. It was a big job that involved digging 3,000 feet of underground trenches to extend power lines to the pedestals.
Since 1926, veterans have found peace, privacy and – if they so choose – camaraderie at the veterans-owned camp on Big Marine Lake, just north of Stillwater.
Local 110 apprentices Eddie Guzman (R) and Hnia Her install a pedestal at the new campground.
The demand for campsites and cabins at the camp has grown in recent years, with military personnel returning to Minnesota from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new campsites are part of a series of improvements, begun in 2007, aimed at meeting some that demand. Several Building Trades unions and their signatory contractors have taken up the cause.
IBEW Local 110 joined Crescent Electric Supply, Collins Electric, Letourneau Electric, People’s Electric, Hunt Electric, Total Construction and Equipment, and the St. Paul Joint Apprenticeship Training Center in supporting the expansion project last weekend.
The following Local 110 journeymen and apprentices volunteered on the project: James Miller, Matt Walker, Adum Weizenegger, John Graff, Lori Benson, Joey Weizenegger, Gary Oman, Steve Galatowitsch, Casey Weizenegger, Tom Shearen, Don Sinna, Travis Gast, Mitch Schanus, Mike Dufour, Eddie Guzman, Rich Swanson, Rick Bieniek, Al Ostertag, John Peick, Dirk Robinson and Greg Wedin;
Mark Anderson, Mike Letourneau, Mark Blegen, Ray Lee, Quintin Letourneau, Hnia Her, Derek Collyard, Jacob Aarhus, Dave Cerney, Jamie McNamara, Doug Suchanek, Jim Tauer, Mike Heiden, Keith Kedrowski, Mike Redlund, Doug Branzovsky, Patrick Greenside, Randy Reetz, Bill Malecha, Bill Weiss, Justin Davis and Jim Drake;
Brad Malm, Dick Cummings, Noah Blaido, Joe Kelly, Brian Booth, Dave Slattery, Kurt Mobroten, Brian Peterson, Joe Lubitz, Jonah Kurth, Tom Suek, Brandon Tingerthal, Tom Tschida and Chris Hayes.
Union Advocate 