Edmond dedicates substation to former Electric director

The power of tomorrow's Edmond got a boost Wednesday with the dedication the C.R. Burgett Substation, located at 3033 N. Air Depot north of Covell.Retired Edmond Electric Utility Director Charlie Burgett is the namesake of the  project. Burgett was with Edmond Electric for 17 years beginning in 1992."This is just tremendous," Burgett said. "During the time I was with Edmond Electric we saw over 100 percent growth in number of customers and amount of power used in the city of Edmond. This is just another indication of Edmond's commitment of meeting the growth in our city and supplying it with very reliable and inexpensive electricity."
Mayor Charles Lamb was among the city's staff and business leaders on hand to celebrate the substation. Lamb said the project represents the city's second electrical feed into Edmond from the north. Generations to come will benefit from the C.R. Burgett Substation, he added."Edmond is the envy of electrical systems in Oklahoma, in large part due to (Burgett), his time on watch," Lamb said.Burgett commended the City Council for approving the project and opening it before the peak energy demand of summertime.The cost of the project was $2.5 million, said Dean Sherrick, distribution superintendent.Jenkins began a hobby of collecting radios and ended up having a neighborhood radio-repair business. He found a 1924 radio that his grandparents had in the basement and repaired it.He remembers the speaker: "Beautiful needlepoint tapestry."
His love for old electronics never stopped.It was in 2001 that Jenkins met up with Jonathan Winter, another Bellinghamite, who also loved old radios — so much that he started the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum.The two joined forces.Jenkins bought an old brick department store at 1312 Bay St. in Bellingham that had been converted to office space.It became the Spark Museum and in the 11 years since, the building keeps getting work done on it, and exhibits keep getting expanded.When more money has been needed, Jenkins has sold one of his valuable collector's items, including a 1912 Marconi radio receiver such as was used on the Titanic.Jenkins says the museum is finally close to breaking even, with 15,000 visits last year.The cage was designed by Sedro-Woolley artist Rik Allen, who does a lot of sculptures with rocket imagery and is a fan of the museum.He made sure the wire mesh enveloping the cage has such small holes that nobody could stick their fingers through it and get accidentally zapped.One of the original plans had it looking more like a cylindrical bird cage. Now the top is rounded to point at the Tesla coil.