Co-op Brings President Taft to Life

By CnAgri2012-07-10 18:52:10 Print

His face is not carved on Mount Rushmore, but President William Howard Taft means a lot to an electric cooperative in Colorado.

Delta-Montrose Electric Association, Montrose, recently stepped back about 100 years into history by featuring an actor to portray the 27th president of the United States to speak at its annual meeting.

The co-op wanted to do something special to observe last month's groundbreaking of the $22 million South Canal hydro plant, made possible by the Gunnison Tunnel, an irrigation project opened with much fanfare by Taft in 1909, his first year in the Oval Office. The appearance of Taft, portrayed by character actor Dale Liikala, at the 76th annual meeting, linked the two events.

"The concept of going back to the future for the annual meeting worked really well," said Tom Polikalas, the co-op's communications/public relations supervisor. He played up the event by arranging a mock Secret Service detail to accompany Taft, along with a playing of "Hail to the Chief" as the presidential portrayer entered the meeting.

In attendance at the meeting were about 300 co-op members and a contingent from the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association, a co-developer of the hydro plant.

Taft's remarks touched on the "can-do" spirit that persisted even during the plant's three-year permitting process. "He commended both boards and encouraged them that even in tough times, we shouldn't give up and still undertake challenges to get things done," said Polikalas.

Making history come alive was Liikala, an Ohio-based character actor who's been portraying Taft at historical societies and libraries for about three years.

The tunnel "was an entirely new thing for me in my research," the actor said. He noted that he gained an "appreciation for how the co-op was trying to fully utilize something that opened more than 100 years ago with modern technology."

One thing that Liikala didn't have to do in advance was change his physical appearance. Like the one-term president, he is about 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs more than 300 pounds.