A Visit to the MREA Fair
With the Summer Solstice comes my favorite event of the year; the Midwest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair in Amherst, WI.
The fair is the largest and longest running renewable energy education event in the world. The fair includes over 100 workshops presented by experts from around the U.S., working demonstrations of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and a friendly festival atmosphere.
I am amazed every year by the turnout and all the different walks of life that it attracts. Not only from Wisconsin, but from about every state in the US and other countries from around the world. What makes the fair so special is the people. It is invigorating to see so many people who have similar views on the environment and sustainability. Every year the number of participants in the fair continues to grow. Kudos to the MREA and all of the volunteers for putting on another great fair!
Jackie and Rob Roy demonstrate cordwood construction at the MREA fair
Rob Roy was in attendance and gave a number of workshops at the fair. As usual, his workshops were packed. Rob’s cordwood workshop offers a good overview of cordwood construction along with a slide show and a cordwood construction demonstration at the MREA’s model home located on the fairgrounds.
Rob Roy’s booth was quite often lined with people either considering building a cordwood home, or in the process of building (yours truly included) and by those who have already built cordwood structures. A few masons that I bumped into at the fair included Ed McAllen and Paul Reavis.
Besides the Ed and Paul, we were also able to catch up with our friends from the La Crosse area who have helped build our cordwood house; Tom and his wife Bev, Deb and Nick, and Rick and Chris. It was another great year at the fair to be sure!
Thanks to Lois and Bryan, wall number five was completed on Thursday. They did a great job and allowed me to pack up early for the MREA fair. Best wishes go out to both of them.
Thanks to Lois and Bryan, wall number five was completed on Thursday. They did a great job and allowed me to pack up early for the MREA fair. Best wishes go out to both of them.
Speaking of cordwood helpers and friends, it was great to have some help last week. Lois and Bryan who drove from Florida to Colorado to Minnesota (whew!) were a great help and great company too. They just moved from Florida to Colorado where they plan to build their cordwood home. Based on the photos that they showed me, their views will be spectacular — especially of Pikes Peak. Although they appeared unscathed when they arrived last Monday, it had to be quite a shock for them to move from Florida to their land in Colorado where they were greeted to a couple of inches of snow on their tent.
Having Lois and Bryan help build a cordwood wall was a win-win situation for all of us. Lois and Bryan were able to get some hands-on experience building cordwood walls, and I got some needed help. Besides building the walls, Lois and Bryan were great company. We all had a great time and I was sorry to see them go. Some day soon I hope that Jo and I can make a trip out to Colorado to help them on their house.
Since we’re on the subject of help, if anyone else would like hands-on experience building a cordwood house, please send an email. (Our building season is rather short, so if you want to help that’s great — just be prepared to do some serious work.)
Until next time, back to mudding…
An In-Tents Cat This week’s Beanie photo goes to Lois and Bryan’s cat — BK. (Black Kitty) BK has somehow survived being carted from Florida to Colorado to Minnesota to the MREA and back to Colorado. (If that were our cats, either the cats and/or us would have lost all of our hair by now.)