Super Safety Saturday

Jacob Pierce watched United First-Class Lineman JT Higgins as he lifted the hotstick up to the energized line and carefully drew an arc of electricity away from it. Building into a thin, green ribbon, the visible energy raised into the air with a deep hum before vanishing with a pop into nothing.

Dressed in his Sonic the Hedgehog hoodie shirt and standing safely away from the show, the 6-year-old stared in wonder with his parents, John and Nonthali, as the family witnessed the power of electricity at United’s arcing demonstration trailer at Super Safety Saturday in Burleson.

United was one of 25 organizations who brought a safety message to the forefront for families living in the area. Hosted in May by Texas Health Neighborhood Care and Wellness, organizers estimated about 450 people attended the morning event.
Nonthali said the exhibitions at Super Safety Saturday presented an excellent learning opportunity for recent transplants from New York to rest from work and share some family time together.

“Me and my husband, we work really hard,” she said. “We spend every Saturday and the Sabbath together. This is something the kids and the parents can do together. I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of knowledge going on here for Jacob to learn.”

While Texas might be a lot warmer than his former home state of New York, John said the reception he and his family have received is a lot warmer also. Super Safety Saturday gave the family a good opportunity to learn more about Burleson and participate in the family’s new community.

“Here, it’s not so big,” he said. “Everybody’s family oriented more, and you don’t have shootings every night.  You don’t have people dying from drug transactions everywhere every night. So, the police and the firemen are different. Here, they’re more connected to the community.”

Pat Griffith is the safety & loss control coordinator at United. He said being able to use the arcing demonstration trailer and show the power of electricity not only helps educate children and adults about the dangers electricity can pose, but also offers the co-op an opportunity to showcase the safety that United builds into its infrastructure and that its employees use to safely bring power to members every day.

“There were a lot of questions that came out of the arcing demonstration,” he said. “A lot of the kids, but even some of the adults, too, had never seen electricity before. I think we gave them an opportunity to see it and learn more about it. For some, all they know is that they walk in, they hit a switch and lights are on, or the air conditioner or heater comes on. They really don’t know what’s going on out there on the line. Events like this allow us to give the details of what we do in the background to make that happen every day.”

Kendall Robbins is a senior administrative assistant at Texas Health Neighborhood Care & Wellness Burleson. She said this is the eighth year for Super Safety Saturday, which initially began with a focus on swimming safety following an increase in drownings in the area.

“We felt everything was exceptional, and  this year it was our best turn out,” she said. “Since 2015, the event has evolved to include all things safety-related. We felt it was a great opportunity to touch each person in the community about different important subjects. If we can prevent one drowning, accident, increase awareness about safety, let the children meet first responders or save just one life through this education, we have made a positive impact in our community.”