By Ben Stroup
Nothing’s cooler than recycling … except maybe the things you can make from the recycled materials.
It’s something Delaware resident Don Temple knows a thing or two about. The Delaware Hayes grad built a bar out of sustainable and recycled items — a place right here in town called The Solar Saloon (located at 2 N. Sandusky St. above Something Sweet Coffee & Bakery).
“After graduating from Hayes and spending a couple years at OWU, I franchised Domino’s Pizza in Pennsylvania,” Temple said. “Sold those to get into the restaurant/nightclub business, then sold those, moved back to Delaware and opened a green sports bistro made with natural products such as bamboo and other recycled materials.”
In addition, Temple, a distributor for Goal Zero, uses solar energy to supplement the saloon’s power as much as possible.
When the doors opened last summer, though, Temple still had some building materials. So what’s he do? There was only one thing to do: make a soapbox derby car.
“We saw Red Bull was putting on a soapbox race, so we applied and were chosen,” he said. “Our name is the The Green Team and the car we built is made out of leftover materials from the bar … mostly all bamboo and solar products (lights, solar speakers and solar panel for the wing).”
The event, the Red Bull Soapbox Race Ohio, was held Saturday at Eden Park in Cincinnati. It drew a crowd of 50,000-plus, including Temple’s five-man crew (Temple, who drove, captain Chris Frentsos, Jon Speese, Keith Tillou and Craig Brinkmoeler). The squad finished fourth in speed and eighth overall among the 50 teams in action.
Temple said the car, the SS1, took a couple months to build.
Following the success of the first run, the team hopes to head to Atlanta for another race at the end of October.
Follow Ben Stroup on Twitter @delgazette_ben.
