Cheeseburgers, Fries and Life Lessons from Dad
In late May, a line of strong thunderstorms passed through Lake County creating widespread outages for SECO Energy members in Clermont. The storm damage was substantial but service was restored within the hour. The next day, however, members in the same area experienced an additional service interruption due to multiple equipment failures caused by the previous day’s lightning damage.
Tony Marshowsky, a SECO Energy member in Clermont, was understandably frustrated by multiple outages on consecutive days. He contacted SECO via Facebook for information about the outages. SECO had posted photos, video and other details, and Tony was happy to learn that crews were repairing the damage. The repair was extensive, as the capacitors had arced and created a fire. The pole split and broke where the capacitor bank was attached and crashed to the ground.
Coincidentally, Marshowsky and his nine-year-old son Tony, Jr. drove by the crew repairing the pole in the rain on their way to Wendy’s for a milkshake. As a blue-collar worker himself, Marshowsky empathized with the crew, and stated, “These men were working in the rain. I imagine they were tired, hungry and working late so that my family and neighbors would have power and air conditioning. I decided I could teach my son a life lesson, reminding him to thank the people around us who are working for our benefit.”
Armed with multiple bags of Wendy’s cheeseburgers and fries, Marshowsky and his son delivered dinner and a heartfelt thank you to the SECO crew working to replace the damaged pole. Marshowsky later added, “The little guys, the blue-collar workers, the men and women who aren’t always remembered or rewarded for their hard work – they are away from their own homes missing dinner with their own families. It felt good to help someone else and to show my son respect for handworking people.”
The SECO Energy Facebook post about Marshowsky and his son’s goodwill grew quickly, reaching almost 20,000 Facebook users in just days. It is also one of the cooperative’s most frequently shared posts this year. The Marshowsky family met up with the SECO crew for a group photo opp and official thank you.
Photo caption: SECO Energy Line Tech David Olszanski, Service Tech David Kerns, Crew Supervisor Jason Merrill, Tony Marshowsky Jr., Line Tech Doug Stanley, Line Tech Garret Keller and Tony Marshowsky Sr. (not pictured; Line Tech Clint Brighurst and Line Tech Justin Smothers)
Learn more about SECO Energy at SECOEnergy.com>Your Co-op. “Like” SECO’s Facebook page to view the video footage of the pole and capacitor damage. Follow @SECOEnergy on Twitter for news releases, outage information and cooperative updates.
