After a combined presentation from Garland Light and Power and the City of Powell on high voltage work and safety tips, Sophia Serr donned a hard hat and learned a few tricks of the trade on the mock power lines set up for the presentation.

Her father, Josh Serr, a journeyman lineman with Garland Light and Power, was educating the community on the safety when it comes to high voltage electricity.

Sophia had not had the chance to see what her dad’s work entailed or try her hand at it before, but it did shed some light on what exactly he does. 

“In the middle of the night he gets called out and I’m like, ‘I wonder what he’s doing,’” Sophia said. 

High voltage electricians, welders, semi-trucks and other heavy machinery all gathered in or around Heart Mountain Hall on Saturday to educate the community at the first annual Trades Fair put on by the Powell Library.

Serr and three other electricians set out to outline some safety tips for the community and explain a little bit of what they do. To get their point across, they used a pineapple, sometimes outfitted with safety equipment. When things went wrong for the poor pineapple, sparks flew. 

Sophia also had the chance to look at other displays at the fair, but currently wants to be a dental hygienist, she said.

The Trades Fair, which was led by Breanne Thiel, senior library assistant at the Powell Library, had four core areas: a heavy machinery area courtesy of Ryno’s Rental with assistance coming from Greg Anderson and Zach, Lloyd and Tammy Thiel; the high voltage presentation; a CDL area courtesy of Christi Greaham , administrator of the Northwest College Training and Development program; and a welding area led by Dave Brazelton with assistance from Lillian Brazelton and Billy Wood, who taught attendees the basics of welding using squeeze cheese and crackers. 

In addition to the larger areas, other booths were established including one from Wyoming’s Motivation, Education and Training (MET) program. The organization provides employment training, family services and activities, according to its website. 

Thiel had been kicking around the idea of the fair for some time when Park County Library Director Karen Horner began sending out webinars from the National Library encouraging local libraries to promote skilled trades roughly a year and a half ago.  

“I just kind of had this thought, well, maybe the library could be, in a way, a conduit in providing an avenue for those who work in the fields and those who are interested in the field, and maybe we can bring those two groups together and put on an event to where the people can learn about it,” Thiel said. 

Horner wanted to know if anyone within Park County libraries was interested in learning more about the effort.

“I was someone who responded that I was, because my father owns a construction company and did dirt work and I grew up in that skilled trade field so I was curious as to how libraries could promote skilled trades,” Thiel said.

She had not been working in the library long and was curious about the connection between skilled trades and libraries.

“I didn’t know how libraries could do that because the skilled trades is based on experience, but then there also is some schooling depending on what field you want to go to,” Thiel said, adding “Being an electrician, for example, you can’t just go to school and then be able to own your own electrical business.”

Skilled trade professionals confirmed to librarians that the fields are based on experience, but Thiel became aware that librarians at the national level don’t know about how the trades work and the experience required to become something like a plumber or welder.

So, she thought, “maybe we can bring those two groups together and put on an event where people can learn about it.”

This year saw community interest but not a lot of people knew what to expect, Thiel said, and the recent snow prevented some of the vehicles and heavy machinery from attending — including city garbage trucks that had to catch up that weekend. Next year, she is hoping to have more businesses participate, possibly in March where the weather is more agreeable but tradesmen aren’t yet in their busy seasons. 

“I just would like to personally thank all the businesses that came and participated and were here and that donated their equipment and their time to this event, because it would not have been possible without all of their help,” Thiel said.