By Bob Blalock
Josh Yerby eases the 18-foot Panther airboat off its trailer and into the still water of Lay Lake, readying to re-enact a scene from the opening credits of the long-ago TV series “Gentle Ben” – minus the full-grown bear. Those of a certain age will remember the show’s opening credits, which featured actor Dennis Weaver scudding across the Florida Everglades in an airboat.
“Unless you’ve done it, it’s something completely different on the water,” says Yerby, an Environmental Affairs specialist for Alabama Power. “You can go pretty much wherever you want to go.”
Yerby’s job requires him to go wherever he wants or needs on Alabama Power’s lakes. Yerby is one of a half-dozen employees who staff the company’s Aquatic Plant Management Program. He spends a good part of his time on the airboat, on Lay, Mitchell and Jordan lakes on the Coosa River.
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