Ann Arbor Toledo Success!!!

The day started with Ted Grozier, Cawfebug, Ray Holan, Reldnew and BioDBill from NY meeting at Wacker Oil in Manchester Mi. Kim, Tim and the gang at Wacker Oil really went all out and had a Biodiesel display, donuts, coffee and cold drinks waiting. They really went above the call of duty to accommodate us. A local farmer/Biodiesel user, Bobby was on hand to tell us about his success running Biodiesel. Peopled were filling up with B20 and Mixing with B100. Many pics were taken and will be sent to Nate for the update page ASAP, so check for them. There were also a few guys from the Grand Rapids, Mi. area who made the trip down to make the scene. I know they are regulars on Freds TDI and friends of Gewilli, but I lost their names. Chime in below guys! Then we headed to Recycle Ann Arbor for a meeting with Melinda, Laura and the rest of their staff. Dave Konkle from the Clean Cities Organization arrived in an electric vehicle to get in on the fun. Al, AKA w8aii from Fred’s TDI page, showed up too! More Pics and chatting then a guided tour of the facilities. Toledo Metroparks had placed a John Deere Mower and Tractor, as well as a Heavy Ford Truck on display, as they already run on Biodiesel. Quality Fuels, a local supplier, made a presence, as well as some general supporters. More pics and conversation, where one of the Metroparks equipment managers revealed that they not only use Biodiesel fuel, but the use soy based hydraulic fluid in the equipment for environmental concerns. Ray did the TV thing with local station 24NBC for tonights news. In all media coverage was a little lighter than I had hoped for, but repeated calls/faxes/emails were all I could do. Even the Metroparks "3rd partied" all my contacts as well as making their own. Ray took the torch and headed for Cleveland to hand off to John Beyer. Everyone was friendly, witty and well informed-it was great to meet people from the board in person! Pics to be sent to Nate for the update page ASAP. Reldnew Oh yeah, I almost forgot, "Sam" from Ann Arbor met us at Recycle Ann Arbor with a poster he made of the logo signed by supporters who could not make it to the event

Job Well Done!!! Can't wait to see the Pics!

That is great ... you guys did a great job up there! We're going to have to plan a MidWest GTGsometime and put some faces to those names! Keep it going John ... Julie from Columbus has our Central route banner and will be meeting up with you and the Pennsylvania gang in Pittsburgh. [:)]

Hello all... Glad that I had the opportunity to meet all the rally folks at the Ann Arbor recycle center. I'm sorry I couldn't make the trip to the Metroparks in Toledo as I only live about 5 minutes from where the event was held. Working in Ann Arbor and commuting up from Toledo daily was a "no brainer" when it came to vehicle choice... Glad to hear that the rally was a success for all...

A HUGE thanks to Andy for your hard work and organizing the events!!! That takes a lot of time to make all those calls and emails.! Great job! The TV spot should expose a lot of people to the need for renewable fuel. Driving down the express ways helps too - with all our stickers and messages on the back of the vehicles... I got some honks on my way to Manchester in the morning rush hour... I hope that was because of the message on the back of my car and not my driving speed of 65! :) Then again I generally keep it around 65 and don't get honked at. It was great to meet you all, hopefully we can all meet again- cheers, Todd