North Adams – Since 11 turbine windmills popped up in Searsburg, Vermont in 1997 they’ve been growing in popularity. There’s talk of putting them up in the oceans surrounding Cape Cod and on Equinox Mountain in Manchester, Vermont.
Even the Massachusetts towns of Florida, Monroe, and East Haven have contemplated adding wind farms to the landscape. Greg Dahlman of WAMC – Northeast Public Radio will host Wind Salon, a panel of citizens and scientists in favor of modern windmills at MASS MoCA on Thursday, March 18, at 7 P.M.
Opposing points of view from the audience will be welcome.
Held in conjunction with Kidspace’s spring exhibition, Wind Farm, the panelists will include Hank Art, director of Williams College’s Hopkins Memorial Forest; Stan Brown, owner of Brown’s Garage and lifelong Florida, Massachusetts resident; and Carrie Baker, the photographer whose large-scale images of wind turbines are included in the Kidspace exhibition.
Wind power was harnessed as early as 5000 BC by the ancient Egyptians. The Dutch made the windmill a quintessential part of their landscape.
Since man’s mastery of electricity, the windmill, which harnesses wind for mechanical energy, has been replaced by the wind turbine, which transforms it into electrical energy. In modern times Denmark has perfected the wind farm, poised to provide 10% of the world’s energy by 2017, but only recently have they become the rage in the United States Some wind farms in California and Texas include more than 100 wind turbines. Originally resisted in the East, the first was actually installed in central Vermont in 1941 but was destroyed by weather in just a few years.
Today’s wind turbines come in a variety of sizes from residential one-home systems of 5 to 15 kilowatts to utility scale systems from 300 to 1,000 kilowatts.
They utilize blades designed after airplane wings and propellers fitted atop 160 foot -- 40-story tall -- towers. The towers are typically tubular which eliminates bird mortality since birds were attracted to earlier towers for perching and often got too close to the blades. They require wind speeds of at least 10 mph to function but are outfitted with mechanisms to keep the blades spinning at a specific and steady pace even if the wind is moving faster. One of the largest wind farms in the east, the Searsburg turbines produce 6 megawatts and provide enough power for 2,000 Vermont homes.
Greg Dahlmann is the national productions reporter for WAMC Northeast Public Radio, where he covers health, science and education issues. Greg also hosts The Science Forum, a call-in program featuring a panel of scientists from area universities and research institutions.
Montpelier, Vermont-based photographer Carrie Baker has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She has experience as an artistic director for the Perlata Hacienda Historical Park in Oakland, California where she oversaw art and history programs for at-risk youth. Carrie also was a teaching assistant for RISD’s photography and illustration courses for adults and high school students and an arts educator at RISD’s art museum. Her work has been exhibited in alternative spaces in several group shows in the Bay Area.
Hank Art is chairman of the biology department of Williams College and director of the Hopkins Memorial Forest, part of the college's Center for Environmental Studies. Art received a doctorate in Forest Ecology from Yale University and has written several books and articles including A Garden of Wildflowers and The Wildflower Gardener's Guide: California, Desert Southwest, and Northern Mexico Edition, which was the top Home and Garden Book in the 91st annual American Booksellers Association Convention in New York City. Art’s current research involves the investigation of long-term changes in relationships among species comprising the various communities in Hopkins Forest, and the extent to which natural and human-use disturbances have played a role in shaping the present patterns of communities and ecosystems.
For the second half of the Earth, Wind, and Desire series, Kidspace at MASS MoCA morphs into a Wind Farm complete with a sea of metallic, wood, and feathered kinetic sculptures against a backdrop of large photos of wind turbines. The group exhibition features photographs by Carrie Baker and kinetic sculptures by Tim Prentice, Pedro S. De Movellan, and William R. Bergman. Visitors to Kidspace will harvest new ideas about wind and wind energy as they walk through the exhibit. The artwork offers myriad perspectives on wind and movement. A resource area for children of all ages will feature books, music, and videos about wind energy, and examples of work by other artists, poets, and storybook writers. And, visitors will be invited to make “moving madness†artwork at tables that offer wonderful views of the Wind Farm art.
Tickets to Wind Salon are $5 (members save 10%) and are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesdays). Reservations can also be made over the phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or made online at www.massmoca.org .
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Pittsfield Parade Committee Picks Theme, Elects New Leadership
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Parade Committee, during its Annual Meeting in November, chose the theme "Young at Heart" for this year's Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade.
While holding its annual elections for the Board of Directors, the committee elected Pittsfield Downtown Inc. Director Rebecca Brien President, officially replacing longtime Director Pete Marchetti.
"The parade brings people of all ages together for a celebration of country and patriotism," Brien said. "This year's focus or theme, as with previous years, is on a segment of the whole or on the younger members of our community or those who simply feel young at heart."
The theme is typically used as a guide by float designers and musical groups participating in the line of march.
Marchetti is just entering his second full year as Mayor of Pittsfield following two decades as Director of the parade organization and coordinator of the Fourth of July Parade. Brien spent the past year as interim co-coordinator of the parade with Kristine Rose.
Elections also saw the re-election of the following members to the board: City Council President Pete White as well as Esther Anderson, and Chuck Gianatasio. Other members of the Board: Vice President Dick Murphy, Treasurer Tom Ryan, Secretary Patrick Kelly, Jill Gianatasio, April White, Weslia Wheeler, Ken Wheeler, Claudia White, and Peter Marchetti.
The committee invites members of the community to join and participate in the decision-making and on the day of the parade as the individual units are delivered into the parade's line of march on time and in order from the various holding streets just south of Pittsfield's Park Square intersection.
Pittsfield High's Matt Dupuis and Lee's Devyn Fillio Sunday won the boys and girls individual high school bowling State Championships at Spare Time.
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While holding its annual elections for the Board of Directors, the committee elected Pittsfield Downtown Inc. Director Rebecca Brien President, officially replacing longtime Director Pete Marchetti. click for more
Capped by Sam St. Peter’s come-from-behind win in the final bout of the day to win the 285 crown, the Spartans placed second at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships at Mount Greylock. click for more
