Generator — Summer 2023

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Steve Heesacker
Chairman
Bob Cerv
First Vice Chairman
Jim Donoghue
Second Vice Chairman
Mike Fleming
Secretary
Dick Tooley
Treasurer
Rich Aerni
Alan Drozd
Chris Langemeier
Larry Zach
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Neal Suess
President/CEO
Walt Williams
Vice President,
Accounting & Finance/CFO
Todd Duren
Vice President,
Corporate Services
Korey Hobza
Vice President, Engineering
Dan Hellbusch
Vice President, Operations
The Loup Generator is
published quarterly
as a service for Loup
employees, families,
friends, and associates.
For feedback, story ideas
and submissions, contact:
Stacy Wemhoff
Communications Coordinator
402-562-5711
swemhoff@loup.com
RETIREE PROFILE: BOB ANDERSON
Bob Anderson had a feeling
he’d end up working at Loup
Power District.
His grandpa, Pete, was
a dredge operator at the
Genoa Headworks. So was his
dad, Gilbert Anderson. And
eventually he became one too.
“It’s what I always wanted to
do,” he said.
Anderson was a selfemployed
drywall installer in
1997 when he saw a job open up
at Loup and decided to apply. He
knew his dad and grandpa enjoyed the work.
His uncle, Bob Ramaekers, also worked for
Loup as Genoa Local Superintendent.
He was hired as Maintenance Man at
the Headworks in 1997 and was promoted
to Equipment Operator in 2002. In 2012,
he achieved his goal of becoming Dredge
Operator and continued in that role until his
retirement last year.
In that role, Anderson was responsible for
dredging sand from the Loup canal settling
basin at the Headworks just southwest
of Genoa. Dredging takes place in the
spring and fall. In the off season, he helped
maintain the dredge.
“When you’re not dredging, you’re fixing
something,” Anderson said. “Sand destroys
everything.”
He also took care of a variety of other
tasks, such as steaming the intake gates in
the icy winters or checking the canal during
his night shifts.
Some people hate working in temperature
extremes. But Anderson wasn’t
one of them.
“I love the outdoors,” he said.
And he loved working at Loup
— until 2019.
“I enjoyed it right up until the
flood,” Anderson said. “It was
heartbreaking.”
A storm in March that
year dumped rain on top of
melting ice, causing ice jams
and flooding that breached the
canal and destroyed areas of the
Headworks.
“All the work we did and in 24 hours it
was gone and we had to start all over.”
The result was months of working
overtime every week. In addition, Anderson
said the shift work can be tiring after many
years. And that’s how he knew it was time to
retire.
He said retirement started off pretty good
last fall.
“Then winter hit and it was awfully
boring,” he joked.
Still, he has plenty of projects to keep
him busy in retirement — yard work and
property and vehicle maintenance.
He does miss the Headworks, the
coworkers, and the dredge. He drives out for
a visit every once in a while and takes a look
at the dredge.
It was his home away from home for 25
years and it’s been hard to leave it behind.
But then he throws a fishing line in
the canal, sits back to relax, and realizes
retirement isn’t so bad after all.
2 | GENERATOR