Solar-powered tree

lights up a frigid Friday
By Jason Reagan

Perhaps “Dreaming of a Bright Christmas” would have been an appropriate faux-Christmas carol for the more than 150 people who filled the Jones House front lawn on a frigid Friday to watch the lighting of the town’s solar-powered Christmas tree.

Apparently, the days were merry and bright leading up to the event — when Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson pulled the bright-red “on” switch, a towering fir tree in the lawn’s corner began to glow with twinkling blue lights.

Mike Uchal, president of the Appalachian State University Sustainable Energy Society, welcomed the crowd amid 20-plus degree temperatures. The campus-based group brought the event together in alignment with what club officials stated is the group’s purpose: “to educate, enlighten, and inform students and the community about solar applications as well as other renewable energy sources.”

Society vice president Grey Nelson introduced Clawson and reminded the crowd the tradition started 13 years ago when several students wanted a solar-power tree and erected a small one near the Katherine Harper technology building.

“Here’s where we are today,” Nelson said to applause and plenty of cheers. He thanked the campus Solar Club for helping publicize the event, Café Portofino for hosting a post-lighting reception as well as instructor Stony Oswald and his photovoltaic class for technical assistance.

“It reminds each one of us how bright and creative ASU students are to be able to illuminate a tree with solar power,” Clawson said before flipping the switch.

“The gift of peace around the world and leaving the legacy of the preservation of our natural resources and landscapes for future generations may be one of the two greatest gifts we can give our children,” she said, adding that this year’s crowd was the largest she had seen in four years.

For more information about the sustainable energy society, log on to the group’s Web site at asuses.appstate.edu

According to the site, ASUSES welcomes students and community members to weekly meetings Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Room 178 in Kerr-Scott Hall (between the JET Building and the parking deck on Rivers Street) during the semester.