Chuck West was recently inducted into the Lineman’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony following the International Lineman’s Rodeo held in Overland Park, Kan.
West joined the line crew of Corn Belt Energy Corporation, Bloomington, in 1961. He worked as a journeyman lineman before being promoted to foreman. West retired in 2003 after 42 years of electric co-op line work.
He also served as an instructor for the AIEC lineman training school and upon his 2003 retirement, became lead instructor for the program.
In his letter of nomination for West, John Freitag, retired AIEC vice president of operations, wrote, “Chuck is a lineman’s lineman … he has personally been responsible for helping hundreds of electric cooperative linemen get started in the profession. He is known as someone who would take care of his crews and is an outstanding leader.”
Ryan Campbell, Corn Belt Energy manager of construction and maintenance, attended West’s induction. Campbell commented that one of the biggest things he remembers from working on West’s crew was his attitude. “He always seemed to be positive about whatever project we were going to undertake that day. He also never thought twice about walking you through a task when you weren’t sure what to do. It was safety first with Chuck. And, whenever he needed to put someone in their place, he did it and moved on. He never held a grudge, it was just time to get down to business.”
During the awards ceremony, the classes of 2019 and 2020 were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
