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Hello Milwaukee Hybrid Group members and friends,

It’s been a short 8 months since we began meeting together. We have accomplished so much together and followed our STEP program very effectively. (Support, Train, Educate and Promote). I look forward to bigger and better things in 2007. We have made an impact among our members and have become a recognized name in the area and around the country. Great job to each of you!

The agenda for this meet follows. We should be having a new member coming in from Kalamazoo, Michigan for the meet. Wayne Mitchell and Steve Schlei, and perhaps others will be doing some Prius block heater installs before the meet. We should be having another new Camry Hybrid owner coming for his first meet, which makes three. And we’ll have David Rowley from Amsoil giving a presentation on Motor Oil and Fuel Economy. If you’re coming early, we’ll be gathering outdoors, so please dress accordingly.

One small glitch has developed though. Bobb and Jane Cherney will be unable to attend so I’m looking for some volunteers to help facilitate our pot luck lunch. We’ll bring all the supplies but we’ll need help with the food prep and serving. Please email or call us if you could help us out or phone us at 262-691-4349. Please bring a dish to pass if you can.
We’ll certainly miss their care and support in making our meetings so well run.

Milwaukee Hybrid Group Meeting, No. 8
Saturday, December 16, 2006
10am to 2pm

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

Mapquest Link:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=Jb2SdT9xYkG0Qdn0XyUPWA%3d%3d&longitude=OdDgezXZFp1BlCz2UblwYA%3d%3d&name=Oak%20Creek%20Library&country=US&address=8620%20S%20Howell%20Ave&city=Oak%20Creek&state=WI&zipcode=53154&phone=414%2d764%2d4400&spurl=0&&q=oak%20creek%20library&qc=Libraries

9:30 - 10:00 Outdoor gathering, discussion and vehicle checks
10:00 – 10:30 Check in, room setup and informal discussion
10:30 – 10:40 Introductions and performance updates
10:40 – 10:55 Review of cold weather issues and performance
10:55 – 11:10 Hybrid-Electric Vehicles 1898-1997, Bradlee Fons
11:10 – 11:15 Break
11:15 - 11:45 Motor Oil and Fuel Economy, David Rowley
11:45 - 12:00 Current and upcoming news, projects, plans
12:00 – 12:20 Open discussion and Wrap up
12:20 – 12:30 Lunch setup and informal discussion
12:30 – open Lunch and personal driver training

Perhaps the most important part of our meetings is the personal driver training we offer. We encourage all new owners to go for a drive with an experienced member to learn eco-driving tips or intermediate or advanced hypermiling skills.

We also encourage you to bring your spouse or a friend or anyone that would like to learn anything about hybrid vehicles, oil dependency or global warming issues. Your support and involvement is very important to the group and you can be a teacher and a student at the same time to each other.

We look forward to seeing each of you again.

Bradlee and Justin Fons

Thank you to all of you who participated in our two part Meet in Oak Creek yesterday.

The first part must have been some type of a world record. Under the organization and direction of Wayne Mitchell (FireEngineer) from Chicago and the assistance of Ken Keuler and Steve Schlei and the hospitality of Dan Honzik, 5 Prius engine block heaters were installed in less than 2.5 hours. Beginning in earnest at about 8am, the crew worked on several vehicles at once, first installing the units then threading the cords. Lori and Kevin DeVries drove in early from Richmond, MI. for the install and stayed for the Meet. It was quite a sight to see 11 hybrid vehicles at 8am on a small suburban cul de sac. Eight Prius, 5 red, 2 black, 1 charcoal and 1 beige in addition to 3 Insights parked along the road and in the driveway. Several neighbors came out and commented that they thought it was some type of an invasion.

The second part of the Meet was held at the Oak Creek Public Library. We had 29 members in attendance including members from Chicago, Mundelein, Downers Grove and Madison. There were 8 new members attending their first Meet. There were 24 vehicles in the lot: 1 FEH, 16 Prius (1st and 2nd), 1 VW Passat, 2 HCH and 3 Insights and a Ford Excursion. The weather was cloudy but mild for this time of year at about 40 degrees. Justin Fons did his VTP (Vehicle Tire Pressure) report cards, which many members found to be very disappointing at this time of year. Randy Mays was ready with his compressor to pump them back up.

The members organized and set up the room in just about 15 minutes (a record) and promptly started at 10:30. From that point on we began to get behind our timetable. We spent over 45 minutes on intro’s and exchanging success stories on driving improvements. We then reviewed the effects of cold weather on performance and how to mitigate those effects with block heaters, radiator blocks, synthetic oil and monitoring tire pressures and modifying driving styles. Since time was short (over 1 hour behind schedule) Bradlee graciously held off on his “Short History of HEV’s from 1898 –Current” segment.

After break and lunch, served by Marie Novak-Fons and Renee Keuler, the members listened to a wonderful and informative segment on “Oil and Fuel Efficiency” by David Rowley of Amsoil. Dave gave members great background info on the nature of oils, its purpose in lubrication and how to differentiate between weights, types of and effectiveness of various oils. He also explained the dangers in overfilling of oil by dealers, something that many members have brought up as a concern.

I began to wrap up the Meet with review of recent and future activities such as; the Scangauge group buy, the Madison Hybrid Group Meet on Jan. 13, our own booth at the Milwaukee Auto Show from Feb.24-Mar.4, our presentation at the Green Vehicle Workshop at MATC on Mar.30, current status of WI. Hybrid Legislation and upcoming Hybridfest 2007 in July.

Final questions were answered, door prizes awarded and driver training arranged as the Meet ended about 2:30pm. We had 7 new members that went out with trainers in 2nd Gen Prius to learn basic and intermediate driving tips. Wayne Mitchell and Randy Mays were our trainers.

Justin and I want to thank all our members and friends for their support and encouragement during this first year of our existence. We look forward to 2007 with additional growth and more outreach to hybrid owners, to the public and each other.

Bradlee Fons