POWERGRAMS

43 Dale Gaston shares one trait with the Energizer bunny: She never slows down. "Dale is a go-getter and doesn't like to be idle," said Tommy Bowers, retired Pell City Office manager. "When she would get caught up on everything on her desk, she would ask, 'What else have you got for me to do?' She was always willing to help, no matter what the job was. She never backed down from anything." Bowers, who was her manager for six years, said Gaston was always ahead of the game, especially when a storm was predicted. Before he could ask her to alert area hotels, restaurants and customers on life support to prepare for the upcoming storm, Gaston had already made the calls, he said. A 38-year veteran of Customer Service, Gaston retired March 1. She has moved to a new home in Highland, North Carolina, a tiny tourist town nestled in the Smoky Mountains. Gaston made the change to spend more time with her daughter and son-in-law, Terre and Doug Wynne, who own a weekend-getaway cabin in the area. Gaston, Pell City customer service representative, said her job included the traditional responsibilities, such as cashiering, paying invoices, processing expense accounts, dealing with vendors and answering customers' questions. She coordinated logistics as part of storm restoration efforts, often assisted with audits of office procedures and was a mentor for young Pell City employees. A highlight for Gaston was having the opportunity to serve local customers on life support. Although it was not part of her job, she went the extra mile by visiting homes to ensure their electrical needs were met. "We visited both old people and young people. It was heartbreaking to see the difficult situations they were in," Gaston said. "We took this on to make sure these customers had what they needed from the power company, and they really seemed to appreciate the personal touch." It's no wonder that Mike Bline calls Gaston the "office mom." "She looked at us like we were her kids and gave us good motherly advice as a good friend would," said Bline, Pell City distribution specialist who worked with Gaston for 10 years. "She has so much experience and a deep knowledge of accounting. You could go to her with almost any question, and she could help you." Amanda Young, Pell City general clerk, added that she will never forget that Gaston was there for her at a time when she needed a listening ear. Five years ago, Young was working through the difficult process of adopting daughter, Emma, who is now 8. "Dale was very supportive of us during the adoption process," said Young. "She gave us advice and counseled us as a friend. It meant a lot and was very comforting to know that I had somebody to talk to." Customer service gal Gaston's career at Alabama Power began with a personal visit in 1980. A friend who worked for the company told the Camden Office manager about her. Because of his glowing recommendation, the manager hand-delivered an application to Gaston's home and invited her to join his team. "I was only the second Customer Service representative who had worked in that office," said Gaston. "Camden was a wonderful place. You knew everybody, and they were all so gracious." After 19 years in Camden, Gaston made a big change. She transferred to Mississippi Power to work as a customer service representative in the Hattiesburg Office, making it easier to visit her daughter who was living in New Orleans. Gaston later moved to the Picayune Office, where she lived through Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 tropical storm that ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005. Despite the chaos, she said her home was untouched, even though trees fell in a perfect circle around it. In the aftermath of the hurricane, Gaston helped coordinate power restoration logistics, arranging housing for out-of-state crews, and ordering and delivering meals to the local staging areas. "Unless you were there, it's almost impossible to describe the horror," said Gaston, who lived in the third-hardest-hit county in Mississippi. "It was almost like waking up after a war. Everything was gone. Nobody could get in or out." Gaston returned to Alabama Power in 2006 and worked in the Talladega Office for two years before moving to Pell City. Making a difference in two states Gaston has always reached out to her community, no matter where she has lived. While working in Hattiesburg, she was chairperson of Community Connections, Mississippi Power's volunteer service organization. Under her leadership, the organization received a third-place Gulf Guardian Award for its coastal cleanup efforts. Gaston was on the Hattiesburg Habitat for Humanity board and helped build several houses. At Alabama Power, Gaston continued volunteer work as chairperson of the Eastern Division Alabama Power Service Organization-Pell City subarea. But her most satisfying contribution, Gaston said, was as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for abused children in the Pell City area. She represented the children, sharing their point of view with the family court judge responsible for their case. "Sometimes the position between the attorney, the child and the family is not the best, and the judge feels he is not getting the right information," Gaston said. "I would ask the child what he wants to do and then report directly to the judge. It was so rewarding. Those little children would love on you and talk to you, or they were so shy that you had to draw them out and gain their trust." In retirement, Gaston has no plans to slow down. She hopes to continue reaching out to children by joining a CASA organization in North Carolina. Gaston's days will include delving into her family's roots, a hobby she began 40 years ago, and traveling. She is visiting Scotland in June and cruising to the Caribbean in the fall. Gaston said she may even take the stage at the local community theater. "Pell City is such a sweet-spirited office," Gaston said. "We worked well together as a team and helped each other. If I had the opportunity, I would go back to work there today." On the Move LONG-TIME CUSTOMER SERVICE REP RETIRES, HEADS FOR THE HILLS b y C a r l a D a v i s

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