Enjoy the outdoors? Like working in a team environment?

Like to work with animals? Want to keep your physical stamina up with climbing? Ever care to learn to master the use of ropes? Like to see the countryside? Ride with the wind in your hair?

Sound like fun? You may think this description defines the dream job, especially for the outdoors lover. For Albert Stone, it was an opportunity to be a pioneer in the rural electrification movement. As one of the first linemen hired in 1939, Albert knew he had his work cut out for him. A young man recovering from the Depression and preparing as the country entered World War II, Albert was accustomed to hard work and hard times.

What was your first day on the job like?

I remember six of us riding on the back of a flatbed truck. We dug the first hole at the Jefferson station. The guys who dug the holes went first; digging six holes a day, six-feet deep. The pole setters came, and then we started stringing lines at the first hole.

The mules pulled the wire. Sometimes this could be very dangerous work. We began stringing our lines under another electric utility's lines. Somehow, the lines crossed into each other and electrocuted two of our mules. We were saddened by the loss, but also fortunate that it wasn't one of us electrocuted.

In those days we didn't have backhoes or other heavy-duty equipment. We dug the holes, climbed poles and depended on each other to get the job done.

We worked eight hours a day. The spring and summer months weren't too bad. We started the day riding on the back of a flatbed truck to our destination. From there, we started the routine of digging, pole setting and stringing wire. The winters were a different story. We rode in a late model Ford with no heater. Most of us were on the back of the truck, and we often had to ride about 25 miles to get to work. Those were some hard days in the bitter cold.

I started off at 25¢ an hour and eventually made 50¢ an hour. Coming out of the Depression, that was good money, and I was glad to get it.

Yes. I remember one guy who didn't want us to string the lines near his home, so he cut the wires and poles down with an axe. He destroyed several days worth of work in a matter of minutes.

I'll never forget that day in April when the lights were turned on for the first time. We eventually got power in our own home in 1940. Everybody wanted it, but depending on where the lines were being strung, everyone wasn't going to have access to it at the same time. We started stringing wire in Jefferson, then we moved to Commerce and eventually to Winder. It was a long process, and the idea of having electricity for the first time was a very big deal.

I remember sitting around an open fire and listening to President Roosevelt come on the radio with the Fireside Chat. He said everyone in the United States would have lights if they wanted. I thought about our farmers, and how having electricity would make their lives easier. I remember the day I dug that first hole. I never imagined that one day Jackson EMC would be one of the largest electric cooperatives in the United States. I'm glad I had the opportunity to work as one of their very first linemen.

Now 93 years old, Albert still lives in Jackson County on Jackson EMC lines.