Marie, Justin and I welcomed our members to our first D$W Meet of 2018 and our 51st D$W Meet overall since 2006. It was held on Saturday Feb. 24th from 9:30am to 2:00 pm at the Greenfield Public Library.
We had 27 D$W members in attendance from all over SE Wisconsin and several from Northern Illinois that rolled in on a party cloudy day in the 30's. We had 2 Prius Prime's, a Nissan Leaf, numerous Prii, a Toyota Avalon hybrid, a Civic hybrid in additional to an assortment of other rides.
Our main segment was a panel discussion on Electric Vehicles and electric solar systems with members Ben Nelson, Teng Yang and Chris Allessi ll presenting on their current solar systems and its impact on their EV's. We also talked about our success with the 2017 MPS Drive training and what's coming in 2018 and also played catch up with members new vehicles and driving experiences.
D$W just finished 2017 with a unique partnership with the Milwaukee Public Schools and Arcade Driving in presenting our "Tools For a Lifetime" training to over 100 local students and driver instructors. This is the very first time that fuel efficient training has been taught as a part of a public school drivers education program and we were asked by MPS/Arcade to set the curriculum and teach the training. The MPS Drive program will continue into 2018 and we hope that our training will also expand so the new drivers in the future will recognize that Fuel Efficiency is the Fuel of the Future.
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Our planet Earth is our home, and D$W has over 50 Meets and over 12 years we have tried to “Protect Our Home” by teaching thousands of drivers to Drive $marter. As our country moves forward in a new direction, 2018 and years to come may put all of our D$W members and friends to their stiffest test in these initial 12 years of “Protecting Our Home”.
D$W has never been a political group, but rather a grassroots group of activists that passionately believe that one of the best ways to “Protect Our Home” is with our STEP Program of supporting, training, educating and promoting green transportation and teaching Driving $marter techniques. The rewards for this effort are when the drivers see the money they’re saving and the corresponding mitigation of the effects of climate change.
We all have met the skeptics that believe that D$W techniques won’t work, but once behind the wheel and after hearing the stories and connecting with other D$W members they become believers. All this takes is patience, persistence, practice and the continuing encouragement of each member. So let 2018 be the year of re-committing your passion to D$W and help provide the evidence that green transportation and Driving $marter is not only important but also critical to our efforts in “Protecting Our Home”.