Opening Day: BioFuel Oasis’ New Home

May 1st 2009 represented 2 years of permitting, funding and construction come to term.   We feel like a five-headed mother who has given birth, so tomorrow, on Mother’s day, we are  getting together and celebrating Oasis Mother’s day.   For the first time in years we all have the same day off (on Sundays our automated fueling cardlock system works and we don’t!)

Our first day was cold and rainy and warm and fuzzy.

The fence was taken down early in the morning..giving the site a totally new feel.

Novella’s goat was giving birth so she showed up later.  Our local council person, Daryl Moore stopped by.

Cars and trucks pulled in to fuel and everything worked correctly, phew!

Our store was opened…

and we happily served our customers

Thanks to everyone who came by and brought flowers, cookies, cards and congratulations!!

 

Number 1

Our “Number 1” (out of 2,791) customer, a retiree who has filled with us for 5 years, was also the first to fill his tank at a pre-opening event at our new station.  Not planned at all, we laughed when he pulled up!

These pre-opening events are to train people on our new after-hours credit card payment system.

I know, I know! It looks like an ATM machine from 1985! Oh Well. BioFuel Oasis walks the line: Futuristic in some areas and Retro in others.

Another pre-opening event this Sunday April 5th.  We will also be planting california natives, moving compost around and eating doughnuts. Come on by!

 

Color me Biodiesel

This is Rye Hudak.  He and Chris Wallner run Stonelace Designs--they create artistic natural wall finishes.  Rye is a long time BioFuel Oasis customer and unapologetic paint nerd.  Four years ago, Rye shyly asked if he could paint our bathroom at the Fourth street location –“you have a purple toilet!” he pointed out.  In 1 day he transformed a yellowing-wall warehouse bathroom into a multi-textured, tri-hue cohesive Zened-out girlie gas station bathroom.

Rye came out to the Ashby locatin early one morning to teach us how to use a paint sprayer– an efficient tool for painting the highly recessed bricks on our building–inside and out.  Paint sprayers call for full coverage–we got suited up like ghostbusters.

The exterior colors are: Clay-hue walls, Blue Trim and Dark Red doors. It sure is colorful!

 

Sparkling Turd

We’ve come a long way baby

Some photos from our sneak preview event

A toast to our new diggs

Daryl Hannah stopped by to see the station.  We are going to be on her tv show: dhlovelife ! She is big sustainable biodiesel activist and helped start the organization: Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance.

Notice Daryl's sweet Biodiesl El Camino behind us

Some other important supporters…..

From Left to Right: Ari Derfel of Terrain Restaurant, David Arkin (architect of our project), Brian Hobbs (our electrictian), Dan Fingerman, Eric Fenster of Back to Earth Catering, Melinda Kramer of Women’s Earth Alliance, Baby Joaquin, a Berkeley Biodiesel Collective lovechild, and Lynne Fingerman.

From L to R: Helpful boyfriends: Billy and Kevin,  Melissa, Kumar Ploucher and Sunny Beaver of Yokayo Biofuels, Jeff Ashburn bodyworker giving 15 minute “thank you” massages to guests.

We made that turd shine! Long hours the week leading up to this event meant we painted the whole building–inside and out along with endless other tasks large and small.   In one breath we are construction workers and the next Betty Crocker party hostessess.  It feels so close to being done, I can’t stop both squealing with excitement and falling asleep standing up.

For a reference on how far we have come..check out the  “Polishing a Turd” blog entry from September.

 

Tank Arrival

It is so cute! We have a “cute” tank.  Its proportions are really nice.

First a big crane came, and extended its boom 50-70 feet in the air.

The Tank pulls up on a second truck

so cute!

the tank gets into its place on the back corner of the lot