By Lori BODNAR, intern

When thinking of a tailgate party, what comes to the minds of many people are food and fun in the parking lot before a sporting event. But on Saturday, Glendale Water and Power (GWP) hosted a tailgate event at the Perkins & Parcher Plazas in Glendale that was much more than that. While it offered food and fun, the tailgate event was also a chance to educate GWP customers.

Despite overcast weather, nearly 500 people attended the tailgate. On Saturday, there were booths with information about GWP department and programs, utility and truck displays, raffles and giveaways, bucket truck rides, electric vehicle test drives, solar energy activities and, in the spirit of the tailgate, free food from food truck vendors Original Tommy’s Burger Shack and Prime Time Mexican & American Grill Cuisine. 

GWP serves around 88,000 electric customers and 35,000 water-connection customers.

“This is our first time doing the tailgate event,” said Atineh Haroutunian, marketing and communications manager of Glendale Water and Power, who organized the event. “We did the tailgate event to give insight about our various programs, such as free in-home audits to save [money] on bills, reinforce good habits for conservation, and showcase how we deliver reliable electric and water services to customers. People could also test drive electric vehicles without sales pressure.”

The EV test drive program was made possible due to the generosity of 16 people who already owned electric vehicles. The owners allowed others to test-drive their cars so they could get a feel of how an electric vehicle operates without the sales pressure that typically accompanies trips to a dealership. Around 50 drivers test-drove the EV cars that included a Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, a Kia Niro PHEV, BMW i3, Chevrolet Bolt, Chevrolet Volt, Mitsubishi Outlander and Nissan Leaf. Former Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order in January 2018 that commits the state to a goal of 5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. Utilities have been encouraging use of electric vehicles and investing in expanding charging stations to help meet that goal.

Glendale Fire Truck 29 on Honolulu Avenue and a crew of its firefighters were also at the event. Parents took pictures of their kids sitting in the fire truck and the children learned about being a firefighter and fire-safety tips. Firefighters included Nick Diaz, Narek Babayan, Engineer Thomas Bail and Captain Trevor Welch.

“My captain has been here for 20 years and I have been a firefighter for six months,” said Diaz. “We are like a family and we teach each other. We learn the most through the probation years and we never stop learning. We want to give the best to the community and so we never stop learning.”

Among the booths at the tailgate was the Solar Schoolhouse. 

Erik Shamsedeen, a seventh grader at Rosemont Middle School, was a volunteer at the Solar Schoolhouse table. Among the displays was how solar energy was used to drive water fountains. Also on display was a solar energy-driven craft that used photovoltaic cells to power a spinning motor that children used to create doodle-art. 

“Solar Schoolhouse is an educational organization,” said Erik. “We learn how to create different things using solar energy. We learned how to make an emergency light and solar ovens.”

GWP sponsors Solar Schoolhouse as part of its program of bringing solar education to schools. Celine Young is the instructor of the program. She said the program introduces students to concepts of solar energy in a fun, intriguing way using hands-on, project-based teaching tools to educate students about solar and renewable energy, and energy conservation. Erik’s siblings, Simon and Masha Shamsedeen, also helped with the Solar Schoolhouse activities as did his friend Christopher Clem, also a seventh grader at Rosemont Middle School.

A big attraction of the event was bucket truck rides. Kids and adults had fun being lifted four or five stories into the air in the bucket truck. Many of the kids opted to take the ride several times under the supervision of GWP bucket truck operators Sal Miranda, Rigo Orozco and Kurt Charlton.

The bucket truck is normally used by GWP electric to change out the streetlights. The streetlights are being changed over to low-energy usage lights. There was also other GWP equipment on display, such as a front-loading backhoe.

Yvonne Schillinger attended the tailgate event with her husband Stephen.

“The event was very informative,” said Yvonne. “I enjoyed looking at all the different displays they had and seeing the programs they offered, including the free home audit to save energy or water. I am also really excited to test-drive an electrical car.”

  Lori BODNAR