Livingston Rodeo Parade

For a small town, Livingston, MT can boast about one of the most festive parades we have ever seen. Offices are vacant, children play in the streets, fireworks pop in the distance, as spectators patiently line the streets with lawn chairs to wait for the parade! The Livingston Rodeo Parade is vibrant with decorated floats, horses, and local business in the parade, the rest of town sits and cheers amongst the sea of people in a red white and blue theme.

Call it happenstance if you will. But, our green bus fortuitously linked up with the Park County Biodiesel Coop and participated in the parade behind them as a biodiesel, renewable energy block. Livingston cheered us on, mimicking the biodiesel song booming from the speakers as we tooted our horn lurching our way through festive streets. With Drew and Daniel, Livingston friends in front with the banner, Jeff as a sun on his bike, Charlotte as a windmill with her dog Ebony, and Laura with a giant bag of candy on the side of bus, the bus looked fun, happy and fitting.

With a 300-gallon biodiesel tank in tow, the Park County Biodiesel Coop led the way after the parade to the Livingston Farmers Market sponsored by the Corporation for the Northern Rockies. We set up the bus amidst a sea of locals meandering through vendors of produce, crafts, and kettle corn. Market-goers were enthusiastic about the resources and issues we were advocating at the bus.

Staged next to the biodiesel coop, we were able to draw people in and share our resources for promoting biofuels in Montana. The Park County Coop is currently the only source for biodiesel in Western Montana. The grassroots operation seeks to make biodiesel more affordable in a region where a biodiesel infrastructure is slowly budding. The biodiesel coop can be reached at www.parkbiofuels.net.