Letter: The way it was

Perhaps some of you will remember Mr. Peabody saying: “Sherman, set the wayback machine to June 11, 1952.” That is the day that Ron Franklin was born. He was born in Chicago (The Chicago Tribe). His parents moved out of Chicago when he was just 3 years old to Westmont, Ill. where his dad had a home built through a V.A. approved, no-money-down home with wide open spaces. Ron’s father retired in 1976 to Wisconsin, he called God’s country for wider open spaces due to the fact that now Westmont had become crowded.

Ron moved to Downers Grove for wider open spaces also. Ron always had a dream to own his own farm, which came from family vacations in Door County, Dad’s Uncle Joe’s farm. In 1999, Ron purchased an 80-acre tract in Bureau County with wider than ever open spaces, less congestion, etc.

Ron’s 80 has four open fields between tracts of timber, thus he named his farm “Fields of Dreams.” He has now fulfilled his dream of wide open spaces watching deer, turkey, pheasants, coyotes, red tail hawks, ducks, bald eagles, Osprey and Pileated woodpeckers all on his own property. Walk up his driveway lane south to connect with the Great Sauk Trail, of which the entire south side of his property runs with a portion of the trail. Ron found a 2 1/2-inch spearhead, numerous small arrowhead artifacts dating back more than 5,000 years, possibly from the Neponset Tribe. Finding the spear point, he was alone and said to himself, “My life is complete, I have connected myself with one of the great tribes of long ago here on my own farm, and I’m the only one to touch these artifacts in 5,000 years.”

In early mornings he walks to the south property line to get set up for his turkey hunt, but what does he see to the southeast? He sees the flashing red lights of the wind turbines near Buda. This is not the kind of scenery anyone wants to see as the sun is rising, this is not a dream, this is a nightmare.

In the late evening Ron walks to the south property line to put the turkeys to roost in preparation for the next morning’s hunt, but what does he see as the sun is setting in the west? He sees the flashing red lights of the ginormous wind turbines near Galva. Again, this is not the kind of scenery anyone wants to see as the sun is setting.

The only wide open spaces Ron can see is at his south property line facing the Great Sauk Trail and immediately looking south as far as the eye can see without any obstructions. But not for long. No, no longer will Ron see the wide open spaces he has always dreamed of, the sights his father always strived for, the sights our native American’s always had, for they never had to deal with human beings 5,000 years ago that would want to put up ginormous, ugly, money-hungry wind turbines. We are praying that the wind money-hungry human beings do not have their way by putting up turbines that disrupt our precious wide open spaces we love along the Great Sauk Trail, and land that dreams are made of.

Ron Franklin, resident on the Sauk Trail