MOSES LAKE - A Dec. 28 Columbia Basin Herald article about the removal of Lake Bowl's decorative windmill evokes nostalgia for the area's history among readers and illustrates the longevity of Aermotor windmills.

The 118-year-old Aermotor Windmill Company remains in existence, along with at least one of its windmills in Grant County.

In Moses Lake, an 80- to 90-year-old Aermotor windmill was removed from the Lake Bowl parking lot in December.

The windmill came from a Grant County-area homestead about 20 miles northeast of town, according to Lake Bowl's owner, Bob Russell.

Russell, of Lake Bowl, once visited the farm where the windmill was located and took photos published in the Dec. 28th edition of the Columbia Basin Herald, he said.

After seeing the paper, Loren Schrag, of Moses Lake, immediately thought of the windmill on the place his dad farmed from 1937 to 1972. It was located four miles east of the Menno Mennonite Church near Ritzville.

He brought in photos showing an Aermotor windmill on the land his dad worked and a second windmill on another piece of nearby property.

Schrag recalls when electricity was first delivered to the farm in about 1950. It's when they stopped using the windmill for water.

In 1972, Schrag's father retired and his uncle farmed the place for four years.

In 1976, there was a big land sale arranged with the Hutterites and several area farmers sold land together in one big agreement to the Stahl Hutterites, Schrag said.

Up until that time, those windmills were in existence, he said.

"It was shortly thereafter they disappeared," Schrag said.

Russell, of Lake Bowl, says the windmill is an interesting part of history, as there aren't many around anymore.

"There aren't a lot around anymore," he commented. "That's where people got their water."

He remembers being able to swim in a windmill's tank on a family farm in Oregon, but not often, as it was considered a farm's water.

"There's something nostalgic about windmills," Russell said. "It's why it piques everyone's interest."

The San Angelo, Texas-based Aermotor Windmill Company makes its windmills in the U.S. and is the only windmill manufacturer in the country, the business touts on its website.

Even today, windmills are in use, according to the company.

The company features an article about the installation and use of an Aermotor windmill in Saadani, Tanzania to provide fresh drinking water.

A doctor and his son devoted themselves to helping the town's 1,000 residents.

The entire project was a two-year process and involved fund raising, preparation, well completion and windmill installation, according to the Aermotor website.

For more information about windmills, visit //aermotorwindmill.com www.vintagewindmills.com/, www.windmill.com/, http://windmillersgazette.com/index.html and www.windmillworld.com.