1) Read and sign the online petition and forward it to your friends to do the same
2) Make a DONATION
3) Sponsor us with an in-kind donation, or do some online shopping at our affiliate stores
Just couldn’t resist reporting about our first annual Independence from Foreign Oil Day Parade – 4th of July – 2008 – Sausalito
Well our journey to the very first Independence from Foreign Oil Day Parade started, if I remember correctly, back on New Years Day 2008, when Tim Klein, a really cool guy who made an art car covered in yarn, posted a request for 2008 Art Car Events on the yahoo artcarz list. Now, I had just several months prior, for the first time, dragged my husband to check out Art Car fest, which was for me, a life changing event. After all, it was my first exposure to the ever popular “cupcake cars” which are not only art cars, they are “green” art cars, as they happen to be electric vehicles charged by solar panels. Being that A Vehicle for Change is driving toward a sustainable music and arts community, I set out to acquire one of these little motorized muffins of our very own, in the hopes that it would raise awareness of our mission, and be in and of itself “a vehicle for change.”
Then I found out that the Sausalito 4th of July Parade was a fun time. It sounded like a great idea – I would put the invitation out to the art car community, asking for “green art cars” – and the people would respond in droves! After all, the Cal State Marching Band shows up every year – that makes it cool enough for art cars, doesn’t it? I sent a couple more email invitations to various art car lists, requesting them to just fill out the form directly, so as not to confuse things. I keep checking with the Parks and Rec Director – so far, not takers. In the meantime, I am trying my darndest to raise money either the parts to build a cupcake car, or get a veggie truck that was offered as a donation from a very kind local business owner. No response. Mind you, this is while we are dealing with the sudden eviction of our non-profit, along with The Plant Studios, from our Sausalito location at the end of March – threw quite a wrench into our plans. But as challenging as this is, I’m not feeling too sorry for myself, grateful to be living in the Bay Area, and sending out good thoughts to those poor folks all across America dealing with much more serious matters like fires and floods.
So, we were striking out on all ends here – couldn’t get anyone that excited about the cupcake car, kept wondering about its practicality, as the price of gas keeps rising, so I find an old veggie oil Mercedes on craigslist, and almost buy it — until it doesn’t quite pass the mechanic inspection, and punks out in front of Caffe Trieste, while my fellow biofuel aficionados, Lonner Ralston and Johnston Melbostad, are checking it out. How embarrassing.
Anyway, about 2 weeks before the parade, I’m undaunted in my quest for a green flagship, so I contact the aforementioned kind business owner/truck donator, and he assures me that he would figure it out the week before the parade – well, to make an already long story short, we didn’t have enough time.
So, on July 3rd, I go ask one of my veggie oil savvy Caffe Trieste buddies, Johnston, if he wanted to be a hero and drive his veggie oil Benz as the flagship for A Vehicle for Change’s very first Annual Independence from Foreign Oil Day Parade within a parade. Thankfully, he said “Sure – that sounds like fun. I’ve never been in a parade – guess I better go wash the car.”
OK, so the three Mercedesketeers (me, johnston, and his very kind and patient friend whose name I cannot recall at the moment – sorry ) are sitting at Fourth and Main, in our assigned staging spot for the Sausalito 4th of July Parade, as I’m putting together the pieces of our “Happy Independence from Foreign Oil Day” parade within a parade sign, crafted carefully from 80% post consumer waste recycled paper and some not quite as eco-friendly clear packing tape. Johnston, the owner and and driver of our flagship veggie oil vehicle (1983 TD Turbo Diesel, 5 cylinder: deep burgundy), seems to be getting extremely perturbed because various cars keep coming up the unguarded street, requesting him move the car back and forth when, all of a sudden coming up same street, is what appears to be a mirror image of the car we are in – ‘cept for the fact that it’s an ‘85. Johnston starts yelling something like “Hey! That’s my car!” We start waving at the driver, flagging him down, when he goes into a driveway to turn around, but then driver backs up the hill straight toward up in reverse, until he is close enough for us to read the “No war required” and “biodiesel” stickers proudly displayed on his bumper – the three of us erupt in applause and start greeting him as if he were a suddenly discovered twin brother.
His name is Bryn Deamer, and he is the moderator of the Marin Biofuels group on Yahoo. We ask him to join us in the parade, and he happily accepts – I give him one of my cards and explain a little bit about what A Vehicle for Change is all about, then give him a little sign with our logo on it and a couple of pieces of tape and we are NOW officially “a parade within a parade!”
It was a lot of fun, I have to say – so if you have an electric or alternatively fueled vehicle – especially if its an art car – save the date for next year, and join us! Click here for Bryn’s side of the story Oh and we SORT of got a mention in the IJ as well: CLICK here for the IJ story on the parade
