Door County Nooz

[Editor’s Note: Following the suggestions of Rob Hopkins in his book The Transition Handbook, a Sustain Door study group wrote a series of “newspaper reports” on sustainable practices set in the future. Herewith is their edition of “Door County Nooz” from Earth Day 2024.

The mission of Sustain Door is to promote the social, economic and environmental sustainability of Door County. For more information on Sustain Door, visit http://www.sustaindoor.org.

New Design Freighter Launched

By Rick Rogers, Science and Business Editor

It’s been a busy week at the Sturgeon Bay Harbor.

On Monday the cooperatively owned shipyards launched the first of their new class of sailing freighters. The Trade Winds has an innovative design with a steel frame and straw bales between the structural members. The entire boat is covered inside and out with lime plaster that is compressed and waterproofed using a technique developed in Morocco known as Tadelakt. It is completely waterproof and, as they say, “hard as a rock.” The vessel is designed with the steel frame under tension, and the straw and lime under compression, which greatly increases the strength and elasticity of the vessel.

The boat has a propulsion system that relies on sails and a kite designed and sewn by Dorsal, LLC, located in Sturgeon Bay. When in-harbor it uses an innovative system of electrically powered flukes, much like the fins on a fish, for power. These flukes are much more efficient than the old screw type propellers. They have the added advantage of actively stabilizing the vessel in the waves while under sail and concurrently using the energy of the waves to recharge the batteries that power them.

The vessel already has its first two consignments. First, a load of ice will be delivered to Milwaukee. On the return trip it will stop in Manitowoc to pick up parts for Community Wind Energy’s (CWE) new wind turbine. CWE will be erecting the new turbine on the hill behind the year-round indoor farmers market in the old Big Box building. DC Community Utilities calculates that with this additional wind turbine, the county will become a net exporter of energy, a much-appreciated revenue source for the region.

Local Resident Honored for Micro-Finance System

By Kirsten Dixner Young, Contributing Writer

At a ceremony in Madison, Wis. at the Capitol building on Monday, Door County resident Josephine James was honored with the Governor’s Peak Achievement award for her contributions to economic sustainability in Door County and throughout the State of Wisconsin.

In the late 1990s, James extensive entrepreneurial skills made her a successful Door County businesswoman. When extreme weather events devastated the public infrastructure, commercial facilities and residences in 2015, James immediately offered her visionary and creative problem solving abilities to the community.

Working with other leaders, James smoothly established and promoted a local financial system that provided stability to the county in tumultuous times. Her innovative system of low interest, micro loans helped residents to re-skill, rebuild and then repay their loans. Participants in the system used a combination of local currency, time banking, barter products, and skills mentoring. This creative process was so popular and effective that it was replicated in communities across the state with huge success.

Accepting the award with a smile, James said, “The success we enjoy now as stable and productive communities is directly connected to our ability to work together as a team. I accept this award not for myself but on behalf of everyone who has worked so hard together. Our shared vision has made all the difference.”

Peninsula Players Revive Salad Days in New “Theatre in a Garden”

By Renny Lea, Arts and Literature Contributing Writer

Patrons of the arts were treated Thursday to a buffet of greens and a bountiful display of vegetables at the premiere of a revival of the 1954 musical comedy Salad Days on the Peninsula Players grounds on the shore of Lake Michigan.

“We wanted a play reflective of youthful enthusiasm and optimism,” said Tomasina Pratt, Players’ artistic director, “and the title seemed appropriate,” she added with a grin, plucking a ripe tomato from a nearby vine in the three-season hoop barn.

Unlike premieres in the ‘50s, this performance was a matinee, as are most Players’ performances these days, taking full advantage of sunlight.

“We actually reserve the old theatre building just for rainy days, when we use our state of the art LED spotlights. Still, we need to conserve our energy usage,” stated Pratt. The old theatre has had solar panels installed on its rooftop and solar “flairs” dot the landscape.

As delightful as was the performance, the “star of the show” is the garden, which has been vastly expanded and improved since this reviewer’s last visit several years ago. Larger shade trees have been selectively cut to allow more sunlight into the area. The garden is replete with vegetable beds and smaller fruit and nut trees. Interns are not only skilled in carpentry but also are avid gardeners. These novice actors tend the large garden when they are not building or taking down sets.

“We take particular pleasure in our meals here,” Bobby Opper, a local intern, remarked. “They are delicious and nutritious – and we know where everything comes from!”

The Players’ production of Salad Days will begin on Earth Day and be performed throughout the summer, in rotation with The Cherry Orchard and In Transition, a new play by local playwright Lia Smith. The season extends into September, when the actors, interns and staff join locals in bringing in the harvest from the theatre’s garden.

Door County Sustainability Fair 2024

Community Resource Center Celebrates 10 Years of Zero-Carbon Operation

By Ann Hippensteel, Economy and Employment Editor

The annual Sustainability Fair provides two days of festivities for young and old. On Saturday, admission to the fair includes an invitation to the party hosted by the Door County Community Resource Center (The Center). The Center was completed in April 2014 and this year it marked 10 successful years of building operation with a net energy usage of zero.

The Center and its grounds at 832 No. 14th Avenue are always a featured stop on the Door County Community Trolley tour of local businesses and farms. This year, however, Sustainability Fair organizers included a round trip Trolley ticket to The Center to honor its accomplishments.

“We commend the Community Resource Center not only for its environmental accomplishments, but more significantly for its role in building a resilient local economy. Sharing the skills and knowledge of its members with the wider community, enables a smoother transition away from the unsustainable economy of the Cheap Oil Age of the previous century,” stated Sustain Door spokesperson Aurelia Meyer in a speech to the 800 gathered fairgoers.

In its early years, The Center was involved in organizing re-skilling opportunities. These classes and presentations matched the experiences and knowledge of seniors with the willing hands, minds, and energy of youth wishing to learn the practical skills of days gone by. Skills such as bicycle maintenance, furniture making, food preservation and gardening carried Door County through the transition from oil dependence and energy descent to a solar-based economy.

Meyer celebrated the event with her father Ben Meyer, former Chairperson of the County Committee responsible for the program which designed and built the Community Resource Center.

New Trolley Station Dedicated

By David Lea, Transportation Contributing Writer

About 400 people attended the opening of the Herb Hardt South Trolley Depot yesterday. This completes the system that now connects Sister Bay and all our major Northern Door villages to Sturgeon Bay. The Depot is located in the Transportation Hub, which includes terminals for the Door County Community Trolley and the Green Bay Steam Line terminal. Just last year, The Steamer, began services connecting residents with Green Bay via steam buses and eventually the planned rail line.

Hardt was in attendance to acknowledge the well wishes and gratitude of the crowd for sharing his memories and expertise in the makeover of the existing equipment and training crews in the operation of the horse drawn trolleys.

“Well at 112, I’m just glad to see some real tangible results,” he said. “I hope you young people will really pick up the ball and work with these wonderful animals. They don’t ask much, but the more you treat them with respect the greater the service they will provide. And they run on grass!”

AJ Frank said that it was great working with Hardt and the other older folks in the conversion of his fleet of formerly diesel powered trolleys. “They really were an inspiration!” he said.

Newly elected mayor, Margrethe Hippensteel, was on hand officiating.