“Grandpa, tell us about the good old days.'’ “Well, not so very long ago, farmers grew crops, tended livestock, looked out for their neighbors and worshipped together. Children played outside without getting sick from turbine blade flicker. “On a clear night, you could see millions of stars. Cattle lowed in Uncle Ray’s dairy barns. Pumpkin pies baked in Grandma Linda’s kitchen. Uncle Kenny was as ornery as ever before he went stone deaf from working under the turbines. “Deer hunters gathered in sheds sharing hunting stories. Neighbors visited and were honest and forthright with one another. Come summertime, children showed their prized livestock at county fairs. Hiking through Comlara Park, folks enjoyed wildlife. “Then the factories came.

Wind turbines are not a good idea in a populated area because:

The objectors to these facilities aren’t critics of renewable energy or radical activists. They are residents of Stephenson County - they are active farmers, working families, retired couples, all who enjoy the peaceful serenity of country living. They are concerned for the health, safety and welfare of their families, their property and the future surrounded by all the uncertain affects of the wind-farm business.

Those of us that favor the general concept of manufacturing electricity from wind also understand the need to balance the legitimate concerns of non-participating landowners and all of our neighbors, and the need to carefully consider the wisdom of industrializing incomparable and irreplaceable farm land. Equally important is careful consideration of the trustworthiness of the wind company with which we will be doing business for decades to come. It is unwise to enter into a long-term contract with an unproven wind company.

I acknowledge the degree of emotion and ownership tied to this issue, and I hope that the county board will honor their duty as elected officials to fully weigh all of the issues before making a decision.

Mr. Yeoman criticizes my assertion about property values because, “real estate personnel…near Paw Paw have found no effect on property values.” I stated that a study was, “skewed because many of the wind farms were near communities that were already economically depressed, where property values could go no lower…” Certainly, that is true of an agricultural community like Paw Paw, where the crops grown determine the value of property, and not the potential for future residential development.

At the Nov. 15 meeting of the Stephenson County Board, protesters to the wind turbine projects in Stephenson County were handed a notice that we were not legally allowed to contact our County Board representative in any way concerning this issue once the question was before the Zoning Board of Appeals. Under these rules, it appears I was only legally allowed to protest these projects to my County Board member during the time before I knew these plans existed.

How can we ask citizens of this county to live surrounded by these 400-foot machines? I encourage anyone to check the site map at the commission office on Lamm Road to see for themselves the sacrifice we are expecting from a significant number of our neighbors. Neighbors who only wish to enjoy the beautiful landscape and the rolling farmland our county provides, for the present anyway.

Why I support wind farms:

Our family has been blessed with living and raising a family by the Mackinaw River Valley north of Carlock. With all the timber and rolling hills, it’s breathtaking beauty. We find out from a neighbor that all this is in jeopardy. A proposed wind farm in our area is picking up steam by a Chicago-based company and the map of this project is devastating. As much as we applaud the technology, the placement of these monsters stinks.

At least two alternative wind energy production means exist which can address concerns about the efficiency, aesthetics, avian impact and required land use of the huge bladed turbines currently causing local and area controversy. They are small, soundless and affordable, even rooftop-suitable for generating power in cities. The ``Quiet Revolution'' uses three narrow, curved vertical blades to capture the wind no matter how it is blowing. The turbine is 16-feet high and produces sufficient power to operate five energy-efficient homes. Unit cost is approximately $38,000.

Anyone living within sight of one of the windmills should get free electric power forever more. On the plus side, this should keep the developers far away from the regions.

This wind factory is only going to make money for the company getting tax incentives to build it.

The state's incentive package includes a $17 million grant from a clean coal technology fund that was included in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget approved earlier this year. State officials must be aggressive in courting this project and not letting it get away. Our large coal reserves are among the state's selling points.

Unless Massachusetts residents take on the challenge, they will see millions of dollars transferred from their pockets through higher prices for electricity and taxes to the pockets of companies that own wind farms. Billions of capital investment dollars will be spent on projects that produce tiny amounts of electricity, electricity that is unreliable and low in quality and value.

Challenging incorrect “popular wisdom” is difficult but, in this case, well worth the effort!