Copemish, MI

Michigan is putting a spin on Capitol Hill for the Inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama Tuesday January 20, 2008. A Windspire™ installed on Capital Hill in Washington D.C. will be visible from the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama January 20, 2009.

The Windspire™ which will be visible from the Presidential Inauguration will showcase Michigan Made Products to the world.

This working Windspire™ has been on display at the botanical gardens in Washington since May 2008. This is a display that pays for itself! Not only does the Windspire™ attract interest from visitors from around the world, it also supplies power back to the grid in Washington D.C.!

Talk about a display that gives added value!!! This is truly

~ a Working Display~

(if only my kids would work for me as hard!)

In honor of the election and to show support for the promises made by this next administration, Michigan's lower penisula will commission the first Windspire in the Copemish, Michigan Monday, January 19, 2009 in Copemish, Michigan. The very first installation in Michigan was in St. Ignace, Michigan ~ the upper penisula ~ during 70 mph winds in December 2008.

Contractor Devon O'Shea installed the first Windspire in Michigan's UP and will also be commissioning the second tower, said the Windspire, "Took off so fast in those winds I jumped back!" Yes, we are making Devon work through the winter. Last week he was racing to trench and beat the frost lines that are moving down about an inch a day to get the electric buried! Even my cable guy didn't do that!!

The Windspire™, developed by Nevada based Mariah Power will be manufactured in Manistee, Michigan through a partnership with Mastech Technologies.

The Windspire™ on Capital Hill represents important progress for Michigan in the renewable energy field. The partnership between Mariah Power and Mastech being formed with the assistance of city, county and state of Michigan economic development groups is the teamwork that leads to success.

Mastech will be able to consolidate all manufacturing operations under one roof in Manistee, Michigan offering cost efficient production that is reflected in the price to the consumer. Operations are expected to bring 120 new “green” jobs to Manistee over the next three years.

This photo was take at the North American Auto Show at Cobo Hall in Detroit Michigan ~ going on through January 25, 2009 it shows a practical application for the Windspire™ in a not ~ to ~ distant future.

Applications such as these demonstrate the teamwork that the auto industry and the renewable energy industry will incorporate to resolve the problems we can not deny in our economy.

Michigan is full of skilled trade workers and manufacturers who can make so much possible...

The Windspire™ is a practical example of progress for the great State of Michigan!

The Windspire™ offers an aesthetically pleasing design. This 30 foot vertical structure is very quiet, maintenance free and is “plug in Play” making installation a breeze. The system in Copemish will be tied to the electric grid, sending power back to the local utility company and resulting in a credit on the business owner’s electric utility bill. The Windsprire™ is elible for new federal tax credits.

The Windspire™ installation will take place at "high" noon on Monday January 19, 2009 at Contractors Building Supply Headquarters in Copemish, Michigan. I will look forward to meeting you in person there!

The Windspire™ should be generating power around 1pm.

CBS is inviting public and press are welcome to attend the commissioning of the system in Copemish,MI.

For more information you may contact Devon O'Shea (until he gets on the jobsite!!! 888-378-3160) or you may contact me.

Mary T. Bigelow © Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

Photos courtesy of Mariah Power

The Story of David and the Black Willow!!!

Tucked away in a very small community in northern Michigan, Copemish, is a very large project! A quaint little non-profit called the Champion Tree Project.

What is a champion tree? A champion tree is judged to be the largest of it's species.

So why a project? According to David Milarch, co-founder of the Champion Tree Project, the group was formed, "in 1996 in northern Michigan to essentially archive genetics and Arichival Living Libraries across the country and around the world of the last of the Old Growth Forest Genetics of Trees."

According to David, who was in the shade tree nursery business, they noticed that many of their stock was dying off and changing. Nursery stock that had always done well was not surviving. Through research they found that they were losing many species mainly to changes in the environment, "air and water quality, acid rain and new diseases. They began a quest for trees that had immune systems that were much stronger to take the climate change, take the attack from the air of acid rain and ozone pollution and be able to withstand the changing challenges that all trees are going through."

Have you ever heard a variety of willow tree called the Black Willow?

I hadn't until just recently.

What an interesting tree.

David Milarch is cloning a Champion Black Willow found smack dab in Traverse City, Michigan. This tree measures about 11 foot in diameter across the trunk.

So what is so great about this tree? Science has proven, according to Milarch, the Black Willows are a tree that extract mercuries, heavy metals, dioxins and the really bad stuff out of water and soil.

Can you imagine using the environment to clean the environment of all the stuff we have dumped into it?

Can you imagine a living organism that can actually survive on mercury?

I will be bringing you more information on the Champion Tree Project in coming months. In the meantime, you can follow this link to read an interview, from Turtle Creek Casino, with David Milarch. This interview gave the basic framework for my article.

Mr. Milarch and the Champion Tree Project is cloning THOUSANDS of trees with the tribe at Turtle Creek Casino in Manistee, Michigan to distribute to schools and environmental groups all over Northern Michigan...and throughout the world.

To what end? Remediation of rivers, streams, lakes and watersheds, naturally. Is that really important in Michigan?

YES! Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes which contain about 84 percent of North America's surface fresh water and about 21 percent of the world's supply. Yes. This is very important.

To steal from Paul Harvey...stay tuned for "the rest of the story!"