Hello to all MiHG members and friends,

Just a reminder that our first meet of 2007 will be held at the Oak Creek Public Library on Saturday Feb. 17th from 10am until around 1pm. There will be a pot luck lunch as usual in addition to the fun, information, learning and camaraderie that goes on at our meets. And of course there will be personal driver training as well.

An agenda and directions will be coming out soon.

For members or friends that have not signed up for our booth at the Milwaukee Auto Show from 2-24 to 3-4, there are still time slots available. This is quite a unique opportunity to talk with the public about hybrid vehicles. We believe that no other hybrid owners group has ever been given this chance to share their real life hybrid experiences in this type of setting. Free admission to the Show and a Hybridfest 2006 T-Shirt for your efforts. Please contact us at Brad@milwaukeehybridgroup.com for additional information.

Thanks for your support and encouragement,

Bradlee
Milwaukee Hybrid Group

 

Hello MiHG members and friends,

Here we go again members, new year but same mission; STEP – To Support, Train, Educate and Promote the use of hybrid vehicles. Now 140 members strong in over 5 states, we hope continue to spread the word about hybrids, oil dependency, climate change and EcoDriving. Thanks for your support and encouragement.

FYI, this Saturday, under the direction of Wayne Mitchell and Ken Keuler, we will be doing a 10 Prius block heater install at our house in Pewaukee. Originally set up for our friends with the Madison Hybrid Group, this event has been expanded to include several MiHG members and some new friends from Beaver Dam WI. and Chicago and Tinley Park, IL. Our goal is 2 guys, 10 cars in 4 hours. That’s got to be some kind of a record.

OK, we know its cold…very cold, but it’s meet time. We have had some very good outreach and we should have several new people coming to our meet for the first time. That means new members, great conversation and some good personal training. We’ll be having a guest speaker coming over from Madison to talk to the group. Amanda White with Community Car of Madison will tell us about this unique group that provides hybrid vehicles for carsharing in the Madison area. Wayne Gerdes will be coming up from Wadsworth IL. and may be bringing some friends too. We’ll also be prepping for our public debut at the Milwaukee Auto Show ( Hybridfest T-Shirts to be handed out to booth staff) and we’ll have our pot luck lunch to continue our discussions and sharing.

Milwaukee Hybrid Group Meet, No 9
Saturday, February 17, 2007
10am to 1:30pm

Oak Creek Public Library
8620 South Howell Avenue
Oak Creek, WI. 53154
414-764-4400



mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...y&qc=Libraries


9:30 – 10:00 Outdoor gathering, discussion and VTP checks
10:00 – 10:30 Check in, room setup and informal discussion
10:30 – 11:00 Introductions and performance updates
11:00 – 11:20 Community Car of Madison, Amanda White
11:20 – 11:30 Break
11:30 – 11: 45Milwaukee Auto Show prep
11:45 – 11: 55 Current and upcoming news, events, projects
11:55 – 12:20 Open discussion and Q and A session
12:20 – 12:50 Lunch, VTP results and informal discussion
12:50 – Open Personal driver training


We encourage members who have not attended recently to get back in the loop and to share their valuable experience to our newer members. Please feel free to invite your spouse or a friend or anyone that may be thinking about getting a hybrid. If you can. please bring a dish to pass, the Cherneys are back so that means they’ll do beverages and utensils.

We look forward to meeting our new members. Questions call us at 262-691-4349.

Bradlee and Justin Fons
brad@milwaukeehybridgroup.com

 

Hello to MiHG members and friends,

Just a short review from our 9th MiHG Meet held yesterday in Oak Creek, WI. We had another great turnout with 31 members and guests and 23 hybrid vehicles. Though the temps were in the teens with a steady NE wind we had members starting to gather in the frigid parking lot at 9:20am for the 10:00am meet. Everyone was prepared for the weather (which was actually quite warmer than it has been) and enjoyed introductions and exchanging info on how best to fight the cold weather. Justin began his VTP (Vehicle Tire Pressure) report cards for members as soon as vehicles drove in. We had 16 1st and 2nd gen Prius, 3 Honda Insights, 1 Toyota Camry, 1 Honda Accord, 1 Yaris, 3 Honda Civic Hybrids and Debbie and her token FEH.

After 30 minutes of room setup, registrations and kitchen organizing by Jane and Bobb C, we started a roundtable of formal intro’s and recent mpg results. We had 5 new members in attendance, in addition to Tom B, Wayne G, Tony S, Wayne and Richard M, up from Illinois and Cheryl A and Amanda W from Madison. Two members, Wayne Mitchell and Ken Keuler, were awarded with Certificates of Achievement for their efforts in the two recent block heater installs. After the meet each of these guys made arrangements to do 3 more installs for members.

With the generous assistance of Wayne G, we had an in depth discussion of the new 2008 EPA ratings on vehicles: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specia...6/article.html
This was important to discuss this topic because of our involvement with the Milwaukee Auto Show, where this topic may come up.

Amanda White from Community Car of Madison was next up with an overview of her car-sharing program in Madison. After an initial 20 members 3 year ago, CC is now up to over 500 members and 40 corporate members with 11 vehicles, 67% are hybrid cars. The mission of CC is to provide car-sharing vehicles with the intention of lowering oil dependency and greenhouse emissions through their use. Amanda and CC are currently looking at coming into the Milwaukee market and is looking for investors. Please check out Community Cars Website at: http://www.communitycar.com/

After a short break, we had an in depth discussion of the MiHG presence at the MAS. Members staffing our booth received their Hybridfest 2006 t-shirts, generously donated by the Board at Hybridfest. Members reviewed the specifics of time, place, registration and parking and then discussed how to present ourselves to the public. Various members who have attended similar events offered the insight of just answering questions to the best of ones knowledge and to share your individual experience with your personal hybrid vehicle. Most questions should be very basic. We encouraged members to remember that we are an owner’s support group and not to be too involved in political commentary. All we want to do is help the public to understand hybrids better and to encourage current hybrid owners to check out our MiHG. We will also be discussing and handing out info on basic EcoDriving techniques that encourage the fuel efficient driving of conventional vehicles. Members were warned to be prepared for media attention since this is our first year at the MAS. More details will follow to all members signed up for working the MAS.



Meet started to wrap-up with a review of upcoming events.
- The Madison Hybrid Group will have their meet on Saturday 3-10 in Madison: http://madisonhybridgroup.com/yabb/
- Members are encouraged to attend the Milwaukee Green Drinks on the 2nd Wednesday from 5-7pm: http://www.biothinking.com/greendrin...city=Milwaukee
- Our MiHG will be a co-sponsor of the day long Green Vehicles Workshop to be held on Friday March 30. Details to follow.
- The annual Hybrid Gathering at Miller Park will more than likely be held in May. Details will follow.
- Hybridfest 2007 will be held on the weekend of July 21st in Madison: http://www.hybridfest.com/.
- Tony Schaefer shared with members the startup of the Chicago Prius Group, a sister owners group to the MiHG: http://priuschat.com/The-Chicago-Pri...up-t29382.html. - Tony and Rees R. have also setup a Wisconsin Forum at http://priuschat.com/Introducing-the...um-t28395.html.

The meet wrapped up with door prizes of a $25 BP gas card, a copy of Paul Roberts, “The End of Oil” and a 30yr Anniversary mug from Honda Motorwerks in La Crosse. Several members went out for personal driving training as members enjoyed our great potluck lunch served by Bobb and Jane. Informal discussions continued to about 2:30pm.

Last members pulled out at about 3:45pm. Another great informative meet.

Justin and I want to thank all members, old and new, who attended and have continued to support the MiHG. We look forward to our next meet in April.

Bradlee Fons