My route along the western tier of the states in our nation took me past an old friend’s house on the western border of Minnesota. Ann and I had been partners in the upper Skagit Valley in the 1970’s. She and I and a strange conglomeration of individuals belonged to an organization called SCANP Skagitonians Concerned About Nuclear Plants.
As I wrote about earlier Puget Power was going to construct two massive power plants in the upper valley and as one of their officials said in a meeting Spokane, “we’re going to build the plants in a rural area. They won’t know what hit them.” SCANP was made up of crop farmers, dairy farmers, fishermen, chemical corporation officers, Native Americans, retail business people, hippies, environmentalists, teachers, welders. And in the end this small-dedicated group of individuals they did what no other group in the United States had ever done: stopped a utility company from building their generating plants based on hard geological facts and legal ramifications. There were no broken windows or spray painted slogans; no obstructive demonstrations or attacks. It was won through pure tenacity. And Ann and I were the tools.
Thirty years later we met in Fergus Falls. She was my touchstone to my past.
Ann was from this place. In 1850 her ancestors emigrated from northern Norway to the land of the lakes and farmed. Her family had a cottage on one of the many lakes near the town and after a long greeting we drove to the lake. As in all old cottage lake settings parking was not high on the list of concerns. It took me twenty-five minutes to back the 29 foot RV down a slopping narrow gravel road and wedge it in near the cabin, the cabin on the lake.
1 comment:
Post a Comment