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Hi. I'm State Representative Terry Brown. Welcome to my weekly update, "Talking With Terry."

I am very excited about the first-ever Wind Turbine Day coming up this Saturday, July 19, in Elkton.  This event will help celebrate and promote the fact that our area is the home of Michigan's first commercial wind farm. I am so proud of our area, our community for coming together to make this tremendous milestone happen, and now for making this celebration happen. In fact, I see Wind Turbine Day itself more as a celebration of the greater Thumb community and the wonderful things that can happen when we all work together to move our region forward. This event is a great opportunity to do something I think we need to do more of: celebrate and promote our assets.

Wind Turbine Day includes family events and entertainment as well as a bicycle tour and 5k walk/run to attract tourists to come and learn more about our area. The publicity for the wind farm that started last year, and still continues, has put the statewide spotlight on us and we're still shining.

Michigan residents who had never heard of our counties, or who had thought of the Thumb as an irrelevant mass of empty land, now know the truth: The Thumb is an innovative leader in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

My work in our state's Capitol, and especially on the House Energy and Technology Committee, gives me the chance to see that we have, indeed, cemented our position as Michigan's leader in wind energy. Just as the rest of Michigan will follow our example, we will attract more jobs and economic development to our area to follow our success. Our students and our educators, too, are way ahead of the rest of the state.

Our young people are learning about renewable energy, and they see its relevance just by looking out the window. They are being prepared for good-paying jobs in this emerging industry.

Developing our renewable energy potential, including wind energy, is an important part of job creation and economic growth. Our continued achievements in renewable energy are a wonderful legacy we are passing on to our children, and to the Earth.

So, I encourage you to join the many others from outside our area and bring your family and friends to the first-ever Wind Turbine Day in Elkton on Saturday, July 19.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions that you have. You can call me, toll-free, at (888) 254-5284. Or, you can e-mail me at terrybrown@house.mi.gov.  I am here to serve you and your family and represent your interests at our state Capitol.

Thank you for listening to "Talking with Terry" and I hope to see you Saturday at Wind Turbine Day in Elkton.

Make it a great day!