By Brian Sargent

Transcript Staff Writer

A rivalry exists between Oklahoma and Texas. (Think Cotton Bowl, second

Saturday in October).

But nine cities on either side of the Red River are trying to lessen the

severity of it. Beginning May 31, the Wind Power Trail will be available.

It¹s billed as the first interstate tourism project between Texas and

Oklahoma, as well as the region. Simply, it¹s a travel project that interprets the history of wind energy along a 600-plus-mile corridor.

Bergey WindPower Company and the National Weather Center¹s Storm Prediction Center, both located on North Base in Norman are destinations.

Bergey is the world¹s leading supplier of small wind turbines. Turbines are

used for off-grid homes, for rural electrification and to boost the

performance of solar electric homes.

The Storm Prediction Center monitors and forecasts severe and non-severe

thunderstorms, tornadoes, winter storms, extreme winds, heavy rain and other

hazardous weather conditions across the continental U.S.

The Trail¹s project coordinator Seth Davidson said he is excited about

Norman¹s points of interest for two reasons.

³Bergey is ... the most respected, high-quality provider of small wind

turbines in the world and it¹s right here in Norman. It¹s coming up with

revolutionary techniques for delivering wind energy to small non-industrial

needs,² he said.

About the Storm Prediction Center, Davidson said, ³There¹s that sense of

discovery that I think is really going to knock people¹s socks off.

³It¹s not just interesting and fascinating. It¹s as good as it gets in the

tourism world. It¹s got human interest, highest drama, a world-class

facility and the smartest and the best of the best in the world are there.²

Trail destinations also will appeal to vintage windmill enthusiasts with the

inclusion of the historic windmill collections in Elk City, Shattuck and

Canyon and Plainview, Texas.

Naturally, the Norman Convention & Visitors Bureau couldn¹t be happier with

the decision to add both Bergey and the Storm Prediction Center to the Wind

Power Trail. Executive Director Marcy Jarrett said the city always is looking to

diversify its tourism appeal. The more different product we can offer, the more people will come to Norman,² she said.

What about being mentioned with the ³other² state?

³This gives us a chance to move into the Texas market. Our rivalry: Let¹s

leave that out on the football field, but let¹s work together to get some

tourists into our towns,² Jarrett said.

The three components to the Trail are:

€ A driving map, which contains descriptions of each stop.

€ An audio CD, with driving directions to each city and descriptions of

interesting things to do while there.

€ A Web site (windpowertrail.com), to come online Monday.

Brochures about the tour will be available at Oklahoma Tourist Information

Centers.

Reporter Brian Sargent can be reached at 366-3546 or via e-mail at

bsargent@normantranscript.com.