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Helen,

Thanks for telling me about this! We'll be going up that way several times this

summer on the way to visit family.

 

Nickolas Hein

Morgantown WV

-

Helen

RawSeattle

Saturday, June 05, 2004 1:50 AM

[RawSeattle] sustainable living

 

 

 

 

Just outside Chicago...

 

 

... there's a place called STELLE!

 

 

 

 

Just outside Chicago, there's a place called Illinois! This was our slogan

when I worked for the Illinois Office of Tourism in the late ''70s. Accompanied

by a catchy little jingle, many people still remember it.

 

Between my job as a public relations assistant promoting tourism sites in and

outside Chicago, and my college days a few years earlier at Illinois State

University rising up out of the cornfields of Central Illinois, I became very

familiar with the names of many small towns in Illinois. I still remember the

procession of communities along old Rt. 66 as we approached ISU and

Normal/Bloomington: Chenoa, Lexington, Towanda, Normal!

 

One sleepy litle town off the beaten path escaped me--an intentional community

founded in the early 70's as a model for human development and sustainable

living--Stelle. Truthfully, I wouldn't have had much interest in Stelle back

then anyway as this was long before I developed a passion for organic food and

green living. Stelle itself wasn't quite ready for the world to know about it

either! It had no tourism sites to visit, let alone write about. No quaint shops

for plunking down toursim dollars, no restaurants to sample homecooked flavor,

not even a gas station to fill up at on the way to somewhere else!

 

In fact, all it really offered was a quiet life far--but not too far--from the

hectic pace of Chicago and the boisterous lifestyles of nearby college towns.

For over 30 years, Stelle has attracted people interested in living in community

with like-minded others in a way that is harmonious with the Earth and modern

life.

 

Yes, modern life! This is no Amish town! Over the years, Stelle has found ways

to be in sync with technology and sustainability. A windmill turns complacently

in the breeze generating electricity for the water treatment plant and telephone

company also offering high speed internet service. (On its website, Stelle

Telephone claims to be the first solar-powered telephone switch in North

American totally independent from the electric grid.). Most of the homes boast

of solar panels as Stelle houses the midwest office of Sunwize, a pioneering

solar engineering company. A little closer to the ground, many families share in

the work and harvest of a community organic garden and orchard. Community

activities include Earth Day and other seasonal celebrations as well as school,

lunch and dinner co-ops. Have I heard you let out a sigh yet?

 

Recently, Paul and I had the pleasure of visiting Stelle and meeting the board

of directors of Center for Sustainable Community, a not for profit organization

founded in 2001 by half a dozen or so residents who share a vision of helping

others create their own sustainable ways of living.

 

Located about 30 miles southwest of Kankakee, halfway between interstates 55

and 57, there is no way to get to Stelle without weaving through picturesque

fields of corn and soybeans. It took us about an hour and a half from my home

in the far western sububrbs. As we zig zagged across the landscape, we spotted

the windmill serving as an unofficial landmark for the tiny community. Entering

Stelle is like turning into a well-kept subdivision of mostly ranch style homes

with neat lawns and perennial flowers waving everywhere. At first the windmill

and gleaming solar panels are your only clues that something is different about

this country community.

 

Center for Sustainable Community, located at 123 Crescent St., has converted

one of the few dozen homes into its office and gathering place for monthly open

houses (see the following e-mail on its next open house this Sunday, June 6th)

and other activities. Simple furnishings and books and posters on sustainable

living welcome both the curious and the well-entrenched. Bedrooms have been

converted into treatment rooms for visiting holistic practitioners.

 

After hearing about Stelle's history and plans for its future including

hosting the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture's premier

permaculture designer's certification course July 17-August 1st, we headed just

outside Stelle to nearby Kempton and Greenhouse B & B for a delightful dinner.

 

Greenhouse B & B is run by Mark and Guia Hoffman who turned their family home

into a cozy bed and breakfast inn three years ago to accommodate would-be

visitors to Stelle. While the stately farmhouse itself is painted green, the

name really comes from the Hoffmans' committment to sustainable living. Guia is

a professional chef and Mark wears many hats including beekeeper. They use as

many ingredients from their garden and farm as they can including asparagus,

strawberries and eggs. The fragrant fresh dill in our salad that evening was

most inviting! The grounds surrounding the home are nothing less than

breathtaking featuring a meandering pond and bridge, a gazebo and an

Asian-influenced arbor. Hundreds of perennial flowers offer spectacular color.

All of it is a labor of love by Mark, Guia and their now grown children.

 

We have already been back to Stelle since our first visit and plan to attend

this Sunday's open house featuring intuitive Amy Biank. Greenhouse B & B and

Center for Sustainable Community are members of the Organic Food Network and we

plan on working with them as they grow and offer with love what they've learned

about sustainable community. We invite you to explore the websites listed here

and of course, Stelle itself! Greenhouse B & B offers a nurturing overnight stay

and a delicious breakfast.

 

Just outside Chicago, there's a simply stellar sustainable community called

Stelle!

 

 

www.CenterforSustainableCommunity.org

www.stellecommunity.com

www.stelle.net

www.greenhousebed.com

 

 

 

Eat healthy and enjoy,

 

Laura Black, CN

Director, Organic Food Network

 

Paul Stillman

Assistant Director

www.organicfoodnetwork.net

 

 

 

 

AS THE NETWORK GROWS SO DO THE POSSIBILITIES!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

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