JOHN DAY – Last weekend’s SolWest Fair drew a blend of local residents and visitors from afar – all with an interest in renewable energy and sustainable living.

Organizer Jennifer Barker was pleased with the turnout.

She said the crowd included people from across the west, as well as Wisconsin, New York, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Paris, and Uruguay in South America.

She said in addition to the good turnout during the fair’s three-day run, July 27-29, earlier workshops in solar hot water and solar electric training were well attended.

The mix at the fair included five electric cars from Portland, with Gary Graunke of the Oregon Electric Vehicle (EV) Association traveling a new route from Sisters through Prineville and Mitchell. Discussions at the fair touched on the idea of setting up permanent charging infrastructure to make the John Day Valley into an EV tourism destination area.