History of the Energy Fair – 20 years of education and fun
by Talmath Lakai
Kenny Dessain was the pioneer of the energy fair twenty years ago. He began the fair with very little publicity and was inspired by the community-based kid’s camp held at his house, “Turtle Island”. Traditionally the fair was held Labor Day Weekend and was kicked off by a parade. Electric vehicles, costumed partiers, jugglers, crazy tents and floats would march through the town in the parade. A solar powered stage in the park held musical acts as well and presenters with their demonstrations of ingenuity. The fair had presenters with simple backyard projects, like solar water pumping systems, home-made wind generators, and alternatively fueled vehicles. For example, one year had a very rustic station wagon with 2 cylinders of hydrogen in the back. The vehicle ran on hydrogen and belched water vapor from its exhaust. It was crude but functional, and a great example of what led us to the volunteer-driven, non-profit fair that we have today.
When I was 12, the fair offered me my first taste of solar power. There was a kid’s crafts project; recycling solar cells and hooking them up to and racing remote controlled cars. When Dessain moved to Mexico, Jason Jepsen of Mountain Power Design then became the director in 1996, and he held the torch to keep the fair alive. He organized 3 years of the fair, focusing on integrating more of the current, professional technologies of PV and Solar. There were great, informative book sales on alternative-powered housing during this time. “The best part of the fair was the eclectic mixing of the people who came. Some folks bartered solar panels for an electric motorcycle,” says Jepsen.
In 1999 the non-profit Peak Community Housing took charge of the fair to help bring their mission to the valley of providing alternatively built homes for low-income families. There was a series of directors beginning with me, and then Phyllis Johnson, Linda Spade, Jennifer Roberts, and Christina Cabeza all directed the energy fair until 2008, when Nick Chambers called me. The fair was about to die. So, he, Erin Lakai and I led the event as the Crestone Energy and Sustainability Fair (CEASF). Last year’s effort was to bring a wider variety of presenters, advanced technology, new discoveries in biofuels such as algae, biogas, hydrogen, and gasification, plus advances in solar thermal and PV panels, along with current issues of local food production. Our goal was to offer education and exposure to the public while providing a platform for diverse technologies to just get a chance to brainstorm. It took massive amounts of networking, outreach, and generous sponsorships to bring all the presenters to our little park. Last year was a lot of fun, and surprisingly, pretty great weather. This brings us to the pivotal 20th year of the Crestone Energy Fair. For 2009, we changed the name to the San Luis Valley Energy Fair in order to incorporate our neighbors in the Valley to join in the bounties our alpine valley provides. Plus, it’s shorter and easier on the tongue than the CEASF.
This year the fair has been moved from the Labor Day weekend to the one previous, August 28-30. For too many years, we’ve heard too many complaints of conflicts with other events, so now you can attend them all. In keeping with tradition, we’ve kept the Friday night community BBQ intact, sponsored by Curt’s Olde Country Store. Please come, eat, and join in the fellowship, and check out what great things are in store during the weekend!
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