Illinois Energy Fair-Hybrid Showcase

[FireEngineer]

Hello hybrid owners and those interested in hybrids. It is time for another ChicagoPriusGroup public outreach event: The 6th annual Renewable Energy Fair produced by the Illinois Renewable Energy Association (http://www.illinoisrenew.org/events/fair.htm). This will be the ChicagoPriusGroup's 3rd year participating. The Fair will be on Saturday, August 11 from 9:00AM-6:00PM and Sunday, August 12 from 9:00AM-5:00PM. The Fair will be held at the Ogle County Fairgrounds, 1440 N. Limekiln Rd., Oregon, IL. 61061.

This year's Fair will have over 100 booths (http://www.illinoisrenew.org/events/...20exhibits.htm) and 60 workshops (http://www.illinoisrenew.org/events/2007_workshops.htm) all free with Fair admission. Even entertainment (http://www.illinoisrenew.org/events/...rtainment.htm). The theme this year is Local Sustainability.

We are looking for hybrid owners to come out and display your vehicles with us. We are typically given a good spot overlooking the parking lot on a small hill with room for 5-6 vehicles spread out or 10 bunched together a bit, but there is actually more space we could "muscle" into. You do not need to have your car open, some of us will be doing that. There will be no test drives given by our group.

And now the good and bad news. The good news is that all vehicles registered on the list we give the Fair will be admitted FREE. The bad is this, you have to park with the group, stay at least 4 hours and help talk to people for at least 90 minutes. We understand this is quite a drive for many, but it is worthwhile if you have an interest in renewable energy or talking about hybrids. And we certainly can't ask you to stand by your vehicle all day with so much to learn, but you also need to help give something back by teaching the public about hybrids. You don't have to know the technical "ins and outs" of everything; others in the group will take care of that. Just let everyone know how you enjoy your hybrid. If you would be willing to stay the whole day please try to get there as close to 9:00AM as possible.

If you are willing to participate please E-mail your vehicle's make / model / vehicle color / license plate number / state of registration / day(s) and times participating to events@chicagopriusgroup.com. You can E-mail as late as Thursday, August 9. If you can't make it after you E-mail we understand things come up, but if you don't E-mail you'll have to pay at the gate each day. Hope to see you there.

[WisJim]

This sounds really worth while and a good way to get more people thinking about renewable energy, energy conservation, and energy efficient transportation. We have been active with the big energy fair in central Wisconsin for the last 17 years or so, and the energy fairs are a good way to learn a lot, meet interesting people and have fun, all at the same time.

And getting free admission in return for displaying and talking about your vehicle sounds good, too. Anyone within a reasonable driving distance of the fair (and it looks like that easily includes parts of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin), should consider it a good use of time and gasoline to attend.