My mother's brother, Leonard Rodenhiser, lived near Sherbrooke and  kept himself active with a saw-mill and other projects. I was fortunate to  work on some of these and feel my Uncle Len was a great inventor who  helped many.
    In 1929, Sherbrooke was without electricity so Uncle Len conceived  the idea of supplying light and power for the place. He knew this would  also benefit himself, as well. He tried to form a company, but many were  skeptical --so he decided to operate it himself.
    Uncle Len, like many others, did not have too much wealth -- $4,000  of his personal money and $2,000 worth of timber lands was the total of  his wealth. He constructed the dams, drew all the plans for turbines and  had them cast in New Glasgow. We worked at cutting light poles from the  native wood to supply electricity to many.
    I remember the power plant was situated on North West Arm Brook. The  first plant generated 2200 hp and had a 40 foot head, with a 75-foot horse-  power turbine and more than 1200 feet of pipe line.
    The lights were turned on in Sherbrooke May 24, 1931 (Archives).
    Being practical, Uncle Len never wanted to waste anything, and felt  the water could be used twice. A second plant was built 200 yards below  the first plant for this purpose, and there were seven storage dams.
    There has been a great deal of interest in this big project. He did most  of the work personally and magazine articles and moving pictures of the  project  give him the credit he was due.
    Uncle Len sold out to the Nova Scotia Light and Power Commission in  1944. He still had his mill and with Aunt Grace, operated a tourist home,  which they called Winkle-Rod Inn.