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Stelle
Annual Open House Sunday,
June 15, marked Stelle’s fifth Annual Open House. And a great day it was!
Rain, wind, and cool temperatures didn’t keep over 700 visitors from touring
the community, enjoying refreshments, and making friends with the folks here
at Stelle. From a
60-mile radius, interested persons responded to the posters and newspaper and
radio announcements heralding this year’s open house. Visitors toured the
Stelle office and reception center, the two learning centers with their
unique educational methods, and the Stellwood factory where the main interest
was the purchase of Stellwood products. On hand at all stations were Stelle
members giving presentations and answering questions about the community and
the philosophy upon which it is based. A major focal point and refuge from
the weather was the large canopy-tent under which refreshments were served.
Popcorn, apples, iced tea, and beer, along with the fiddle and guitar music
of Steven Dudash and Stephen Kline, all contributed to a cozy and festive
occasion for a mixture of Stelle residents and friendly visitors. At least
partially responsible for the record attendance was this year’s theme of
“Energy Self-Sufficiency” in Stelle. The intent was to share with our
neighbors the results of The Stelle Group’s initial steps toward developing
community-level self-sufficiency, one of Stelle ‘a important long-range
goals. The Office
of Technology of The Stelle Group, in conjunction with Big Star Builders (a
local business owned and operated by Stelle members), organized tours and
demonstrations of facilities and projects in Stelle which represent
important steps in evolving an energy independent community - Visitors
had the opportunity to inspect three homes in Stelle which incorporate
energy-efficient design concepts: John Ries’ home showed an active-type solar
heating system; Rob and Dianne Frothingham opened their home as an example of
an earth-bermed building relying solely on wood heat; and the home of David
and Kalli Castro demonstrated a thermal envelope house using passive-type
solar heating. The
1140-square-foot solar greenhouse used for growing vegetables in winter and
dehydrating produce in summer was also available for inspection. One of the
highlights of the Open House was the demonstration of the Office of
Technology ethanol project. This project has as its goal the development of a
viable alternate fuel technology for Stelle’s self-sufficiency. Innovative
in its design, this sophisticated still is currently capable of producing
190-proof alcohol. The intermediate goal of a continuous-batch process is
nearing completion as design and technical “bugs” are worked out of the
system. From this will evolve a complete on-farm fuel plant for use by Stelle’s
Open House was quite successful in fulfilling its major purpose. This annual
event has served to reach out to the surrounding community to provide an
opportunity for the interested and curious to have a first-hand experience of
Stelle. Our ideal is to develop a strong rapport and friendship with all of
the surrounding area. This year
we also had the opportunity to begin to share some of our practical ideas of
self-sufficiency which could be of significant use to our neighbors. Though
still in the beginning stages, The Stelle Group serves as a leading prototype
in the area of community-level self-sufficiency. As Stelle continues to
develop its technology, the community will have more and more to share in
this area. Stelle’s Annual Open House provides an enjoyable context for this
sharing. |
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