A Linemen Homecoming

Three Bonners Ferry High School graduates bring their skills back home to Northern Lights

Twenty-five years ago, three young boys—Jeff Garcia, Cade Umphenour, and Jansen Jelinek—lived less than two miles from each other. Jeff’s home was on Trail Creek, Cade lived on Green Pasture Road and Jansen’s family along 20 Mile Creek Road. Each day, they climbed aboard school buses bound for Naples Elementary School. Jeff and Jansen shared the same bus.

The trio continued together to junior high and then graduates from Bonners Ferry High School—Jeff in 2012, with Cade and Jansen following in 2013. After high school, their paths held a familiar pattern: all 3 enrolled in lineman school, learning the skills and information needed to begin careers in the power industry.

Fast forward to January 2026, and the three find themselves back where it all started—now working at Northern Lights, Inc., making up the cooperative’s Bonners Ferry line crew. Together, they are responsible for maintaining lines and equipment, making repairs, and keeping the lights on for cooperative members from Bonners Ferry north to the Canadian border and into western Montana.

“They are all ‘go-getters,’” says Paul Bonnell, their former high school English teacher. “You just knew they would find success in adventurous, outdoor careers.”

He is also not surprised to see them return home to serve the community they grew up in. As they traveled to gain experience and establish their careers as linemen, they still visited their hometown and school. Paul enjoyed hearing their stories and watching them interact with younger students.

“They were willing to participate in career days, too — speaking with students, sharing about their profession, and inspiring the students with the enthusiasm they have for their line of work,” Paul says. “It’s so good to see that.”

Jeff always knew he was meant for a career in the trades. For a while, he wavered between working in oil fields and pursuing utility work. An upperclassman’s advice steered him toward lineworker school. After earning his certification in 2012, Jeff gathered experience with utility companies in Idaho and Alaska. When a lineman position opened at Northern Lights, it was his chance to come home and work for the cooperative that powered his childhood home.

He gladly returned to Bonners Ferry to raise his family, which includes two children. He just celebrated five years with Northern Lights, marking the milestone with promotion to foreman at the start of the year.

Cade followed in the footsteps of his father, who became a lineman when Cade was in fourth grade. His dad now works for another utility in nearby Sandpoint.

“For the first five years of being a lineman, I was able to travel and see the U.S., but it’s good to have the opportunity to come back home,” Cade says.

After completing his apprenticeship in Montana and traveling the western United States with the Northwest Line Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, Cade returned to Bonners Ferry to work for Northern Lights in 2021.  He is putting down roots so his own growing family can experience a childhood close to his parents and grandparents.

Jansen, the newest member of the Bonners Ferry line crew, joined Northern Lights in January. He admits he’s still not entirely sure what drew him to the trade, but he’s grateful for the path that brought him home. Since graduating from lineworker school in 2013, Jansen’s career took all across the country, working on major transmission lines, gaining experience with helicopter linemen, and witnessing the aftermath of a variety of storms. Now, with a second child on the way, he’s glad to be back in Bonners Ferry, close to extended family living in Bonners Ferry and Priest River.

“They’re a great group of guys,” Line Superintendent Marc Fischer says. “They work hard and really seem to enjoy working with each other.”

The Bonners Ferry crew agrees.  Jeff adds they are all grateful to serve the territory where they grew up.

“We work in some of the most beautiful parts of Idaho and Montana,” Jeff says. “It’s pretty special to serve this community and help the people you grew up with. In the air or in the ditch, every day is different and we enjoy it. We love it here.”