By Maureen Oates
It’s better to light one candle than curse the darkness ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Is not the value of history in what it can teach us for our future as well as giving context for our present?
Bedford is a beautiful town with a nearly three-century history in which we take pride. But we are not living in the small crossroads community that was Bedford when the town’s first meeting house was constructed 289 years ago for a community that depended on wax candles for light; on fireplaces for heating and cooking; on horses and carts or just plain feet to get around. The second meeting house constructed in 1817 has incorporated changes from the Industrial Revolution of the 1900s and many technological advances of the past 50 years.
Do we value our history? Of course, we do! Do we want to live that way again? No way.
What has this history taught us? Even small changes in the resources of a community require understanding and adjustment in how a town is managed and how people live their lives. It takes time to recognize the value of change and to adapt. It is hard to let go of old, familiar ways of doing things, no matter how practical new ways of meeting community and/or personal needs may be.
The current controversy over solar panels on the rood of the church on the Common is a case in point. The church, actually Bedford’s second meeting house, was built in 1817 without reliable heat, electric light, or running water– a minimum shelter by modern standards. It was entirely visible from The Great Road, enhanced by beautiful trees on the Common.
Over the years, the structure of the church building has changed dramatically. Major additions more than doubling the size of the building are clearly visible from The Great Road. The building now has electricity, central heat, running water and restrooms, classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, an art gallery, and an elevator for handicap accessibility. What a difference from the original building, both in utility and appearance.
History tells us that when electricity first became available to homeowners a little over 100 years ago, there was much fear about its safety as a source of light. It took time for electricity to prove its worth as a source of power as well as light. Now we take it for granted, but generating electricity uses fossil fuel. Fuels that were plentiful 100 years ago, but a resource that is being used up faster than it can form.
Fortunately, technology has harnessed solar power, now well past its infancy and struggling through the general acceptance phase of change.
It seems to be that the issue of solar panels’ visibility on the roof of a building so dramatically changed from the original is hardly credible and proving to be costly in time and money for all involved.
It seems to be that solar panels on the roof of the church on the Common offer an opportunity for Bedford to have a demonstration project on the worth of solar panels with no cost to the town.
It seems to be that Bedford could consider solar panels on the roofs to town buildings, or a solar panel farm to provide electricity town wide.
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