Page 18 RAIN July 1978 In more skeptical moments, I sometimes wonder how all the well-intentioned workshops focusing on new technologies and future.s would stack up if measured for the net energy they produce. That is to say- whether kilocalories or consciousness - if the energy expended to pull a workshop off doesn't sometimes cost more than the e11ergy produced by bringing people and ideas together. Some of the "fatter affairs," with their large budgets and over-ambitious agendas, are surely net energy losers. Then there are those modest gatherings that work with the resources available and manage to turn people on and catalyze action. The recent Energy Workshop in Frankfort, Indiana, had that air about it. What happened there was ample evidence that fertile ground exists in conservative, S'f!lall-town America, where- with a little poking and prodding-people are increasingly willing to lend an ear to the ideas of renewable energy, appropriate technologies and beyond. No doubt, Frankfort was was a net energy gain. - SA NET -ENERGY IN THE HEARTLAND -Steven Ames Frankfort is a small, midwestern town of about 16,000 people, situated 45 miles north and west of Indianapolis in 'the heart of Indiana's corn and hog counr_ry. A good reflection of many rural American cities, it is prosperous, white, middle-class and largely Republican. . On May 6 and 7 this year, something new happened in Frankfort that might just change its future: its first Energy Workshop, co-sponsored by the Frankfort Community Public Library and the Frankfort Community Public Schools. That_sounds like a pretty mundane event, but for the people of Central Indiana, the guest speakers that came, and the cause of energy selfreliance in general, the Energy Workshop was something special. •In one fell swoop, workshop participants experienced a rather intensive seminar with some of the best authorities available talking about en~rgy-efficient homes, passive _solar design, integrated bioshelters and wind energy potential. They were able to see actual solar and wind installations, buy the latest materials available and ask questions about how all this could change their own situations. More important is how this eye-opening experience was mobilized far frnm any metropolitan or university setting, and how a small community came to rally around this workshop with considerable support. A great deal of the s~ccess of Frankfort's Energy Workshop has to do with the good energies and thoroughness of Bill Ciddell, prime organizer of the event. For some time Bill has been interested in all kinds of appropriate technologies, from antique hand tools to wood stoves. Recently the Caddell family has undertaken the construction of a passively solar heated house outside Frankfort, utilizing a greenhouse/Trombe wall system with wood heat for back-up. With this personal background, Bill is firmly committed to spreading the good word on renewable energy, and as Director of the Frankfort Community Public Library he's in a good place to do just that. In all, Bill's a great combination of being someone with a lot of the right values for these changing times, while also having enough leverage in the community to help make things happen. Since coming t9 the Library, he has taken an active role in the community,-working with various local groups, and putting information into the right hands when it can influence important decisions. In the last couple of years the library has sponsored $uccessful small workshops on solar and wood heating that were attended by people from all over Central Indiana. Eventually, Bill found t_hat they had used up all the local talent in these fields, with no decrease in the demand for information. So the time seemed ripe to reach out for expertise frotn other places. Says Bill: "While sno'wbound last December, I saw Alex Wade discussing his book, 30 Energy-Efficient Houses You Can Build, on an Indianapolis television program. I decided to try to get Alex, and other authors or editors of energy-related magazines, to come to Frankfort." Last January he started contacting potential speakers for an energy workshop, writing letters and following up with phone calls. Steve Baer of Zomeworks in New Mexico showed an initially • strong interest .in this post-Sun Day event, saying that he would pass up an opportunity t9 speak in New York for a small-town setting. The publisher of Malcolm Wells' new book, How to Buy Solar Heating Without Getting Burnt, arranged for the "underground" architect to come to Frankfort. Other speakers became interested in converging in middle America, to learn from each other and to see what the local people were doing. Alex Wade. John Todd of New Alchemy Institute. Michael Evans of Wind Power Digest. Don and Abby Marier of Alternative Sources of Energy magazine. Rather quickly, Frankfort's Energy Workshop mushroomed into an all-star show, and it was the community's • turn to respond in kind. This was where Bill Caddell's understanding of a small town's strengths came to the fore. "His use of local resource people and the Frankfort infrastructure was incredibly effective," says Jim Laukes, editor of Acorn, the midwest a.t. networking journal. In promoting the Energy Workshop, he managed to create a genuine community-wide happening, weaving together • the support and assistance of not only local appropriate technology enthusiasts, but also elected officials, civic organizations, prominent citizens, Students-everybody, it seems, but the high school marching band. • Not surprisingly, the library .Board of Trustees lent their . backing to the proj_ect, sponsoring the Workshop and extending
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