Renewable energy festival

When I was a kid, the Kempton Fairgrounds was the place to go for church fairs, funnel cake and any event involving four-wheel-drive trucks, mud and big motors. I remember going there to sell funnel cakes for our church and to watch a hill climb, where beefy, beat-up jeeps tried to make it up a muddy bank without tipping over. Yes, sometimes even I'm amazed that I can form complete sentences.

How times have changed. The latest event at the Kempton Community Center — notice it's no longer a fairgrounds — was the Pennsylvania Sustainable Energy Festival. Although it was held September 22-23 and I was out of town during the event, I think it's still worth mentioning, especially considering how progressive it is for the region. The festival covers everything from environmentally-friendly construction and solar energy to natural foods and sustainable farming. As the website says, the festival is meant to "inform and educate ourselves and the public on renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through meetings, workshops, educational materials, and energy fairs."

I'm impressed. It looks like there a lot of great discussions and vendors that attended this year's event. Hopefully next year we'll be able to make the festival.