Natchez array dedicated in great community event
June 2nd, 2008 | Published in News | 2 Comments
Last Friday the new 60kW array for the Natchez Elementary School was dedicated in a really wonderful, moving event, that really shows how building renewable energy can help build community.
We got great news coverage, from Channel 4 in Reno, as well as Channel 2.
First, each of the classes came out one by one, from preschool to 6th grade, to trace their hand and sign their name on a board posted at the front of the array. It reads “This solar array belongs to the students of Natchez Elementary School.” All were wearing tie-die shirts they’d made the day before…and then stenciled the Burning Man/Black Rock Solar logo on. By the time we were finished, all 170 students, their teachers, the school staff and our crew had signed.
Then, we got together on the lawn of the school for a hot dog picnic, and some speachifying from all our stakeholder partners, like Sierra Pacific Power, the Washoe County School District, and tribal chairman Mervin Wright. All told, some 420 people passed Chef Spoon’s hot dog buffet line, a huge number from such a small town ( population 845 at last count)!
A traditional dancer, accompanied by two young ladies, who were recently crowned “Miss Natchez” princesses, then performed a dance on the school lawn.
Then, in a complete surprise, we were called up to receive a gift: a framed eagle feather, with a beaded quill, and with the eponymous stone pyramid of Pyramid Lake painted on the back. The caption read simply “Thank you Black Rock Solar, from the Natchez Elementary School.”
After gathering the crowd at the front, the two Little Miss Natchez princesses cut the ribbon, and lead the community through the array for a close up look.
Over the next 25 years, the array will save the school district some $360,000 in energy bills, half of which will get to stay in the school for the benefit of these kids.
It was a great culmination to a long, sometimes delayed project. We’ve come a long way in a couple months from a patch of dirt….
…to a beautiful 60 kilowatt solar array, that will still be working when these kids are sending their kids to this school.
It was, in a very real way, the sort of event that is the reason we do this work at all. Because of a solar array, a community came together and celebrated their past and look at the promise of the future, and then gave them some of the resources they’ll need to grab it. All made possible by our fantastic crew, our great partners at MMA and Sierra Pacific, and the donations and support of people like you. From all of us, many thanks.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:52 am (#)
Fantastic and Amazing job you guys!! Changing the world one step at a time! You are all rockstars and I thank you
mills xxx
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am (#)
We can learn much from the Native American tradition of the potlatch. It is a tradition that values generosity above all else, and a potlatch, which is a very grand ceremony, is an exercise in giving away material possessions, food, and money. It is not uncommon for the host of a potlatch to give away so much of his own resources to his guests that he ends up with nothing. However, he can regain his wealth by attending potlatches at which he is a guest. In this way, a potlatch validates generosity and encourages the flow of resources in a community, while at the same time continually reaffirming the importance of community ties.
When we are held in a web of trust and connection, we can give generously, knowing that when it is our turn we will be supported. In this way, our whole sense of ownership becomes less individualistic and more communal. Resources are in an acceptable state of flux, moving within the community through the vehicle of the potlatch, which serves the additional function of strengthening community ties. This seems clearly preferable to isolating ourselves from one another and hoarding our resources.
Perhaps we can find ways in our own lives to create a community in which a flow of resources happens in this way, in which we support one another to be generous. We might begin by celebrating our own type of potlatch, having a dinner party and giving each guest an object that is dear to us. Or we could give everyone a little bit of money in an envelope to spend on themselves just for fun. Someone might get inspired to throw their own potlatch, and before we know it we might have a tradition that supports and validates generosity even as it creates a safety net for leaner times. In the most profound sense, that is what a community, a tribe, and family do best.