4 generations of a family working in Churchill Falls reflect on 50 years of power
CBC
"It's like a big family."
That's how Robert Dawe describes living and working in Churchill Falls, the Labrador town that is home to one of the world's largest underground hydroelectric plants. He's lived in the town since he was five years old.
"It makes it home when you've got multiple generations here. There's something about it that keeps us here," Dawe said.
This year, employees are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Churchill Falls Generating Station delivering its first power on December 6, 1971.
Dawe, who is responsible for scheduling the maintenance and repair of company vehicles and equipment, said he is still in awe of the underground plant, located about 300 metres below the surface.
"It's so impressive. When you're in the powerhouse looking around, and at generator floor, which is three Canadian football fields long and 150 feet high, I believe it is, it makes you feel small," he said.
Dawe's grandfather got a job in Churchill Falls after his parents started working in the town, and now his children have returned and are carrying on that family tradition.
"I definitely feel a little bit of pride knowing that they all worked here. They all loved it, and I wanted to come back," Dawe's daughter, Siobhan Lethbridge-Dawe, said.
Lethbridge-Dawe says her grandmother and father told her stories about Churchill Falls growing up. She remembers flipping through albums looking at photos of places that don't exist anymore, like the bowling alley.
She works with recreation department and she's impressed Churchill Falls power goes to cities like Montreal and beyond.
"Even still to this day, we are helping every other community get power," she said.
"Even if you don't work underground, you are still contributing to the 50 years," Lethbridge-Dawe said, adding that everyone plays a role to keep the town running so that the power flows.
Her brother Devon Lethbridge — a seasonal utility worker in the underground — says it's impressive to see what was accomplished when the plant was built all those decades ago.
"You get a sense of satisfaction when you're working down there, knowing that you're continuing the work they started," he said.