POWERGRAMS

19 Safety Specialist Keith Gibson can vouch for the interest level of Alabama Power employees when they watch Becky Tucker conduct "The Snake Show." "I've seen a few front row chairs emptied by a harmless king snake," Gibson said, laughing. Tucker, and her parents before her, have been mainstay performers across Alabama Power territory for decades, strolling on stage with boa constrictors, alligators, ralesnakes and most any reptile imaginable. Tucker is so familiar with APC audiences she can do a conventional Snake Show where kids abound at the Family Counts employee gathering, then swivel to a more safety-oriented message for linemen and employees who work in the field. "She connects with the crowd, no maer the age of the person," Gibson said. "Everyone will get a takeaway no maer how many times you have seen her program, or regardless of their outdoor knowledge. Plus, I have never seen a kid-magnet like her 14-foot python." At Alabama Power, Tucker was busy this past spring, doing the show for more than 650 employees at the Southern Division Safety Renewal. A few days later, she instructed 25 field and office personnel at the Birmingham Transmission Maintenance Center (TMC) at the General Services Complex in Calera. The Southern Division symposium "was set up so any employee aending could see the show if they desired," said Jeff Taylor, an Engineering supervisor in Greenville. "It was safety training-oriented, but not limited to field employees. It was aimed at all employees to heighten awareness on and off the job." Sco Shultz, a lineman at the TMC, helped organize Tucker's visit. "Our employees learned how to identify snakes, poisonous and nonpoisonous, what to do if you are bien, and locations and habitats they live in," he said. Said Gibson: "The takeaway I want our employees to leave with is knowing how these animals benefit our ecosystem and learning that most fear associated with these reptiles is not warranted." On the other hand, he is aware of the potential for dangers to linemen and a variety of company employees "in the field" who work alongside wildlife. "It's equally important to recognize we do have venomous snakes, and how to identify and avoid these as well. Becky covers this very well also," Gibson said. Tucker's parents, Mary Ann and Tom "The Snake Man" Yarbrough, took her dad's childhood fascination with snakes in 1967 and made a coage industry out of it – traveling to schools, churches, clubs, hospitals Snake Eyes SAFETY EXPERT HELPS EMPLOYEES LEARN HOW TO REACT TO REPTILES IN THE FIELD by Gilbert Nicholson Children hold boa constrictor during educational program. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ST. CLAIR TIMES

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