Published: February 18, 2008 11:30 pm      

Ethanol and ice cream ...what a combination

The town of Newton will blend modern innovation with nostalgia and history Wednesday when Ford’s Fuel, a combination ethanol fuel station and ice cream museum, will have its grand opening.

The station/museum, owned by Don Evans, will be Mississippi’s first retail E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent petroleum) outlet, and will offer large discounts on fuel at their grand opening. Fuel will be 85 cents per gallon between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and $1.85 per gallon for the following 12 hours.

Evans said that though price fluctuations make it impossible for him to promise that E85 will always be cheaper than regular gasoline, “generally, it will always be at least a dime under regular.”

Though it is usually cheaper than regular gas, the real benefit of ethanol — a form of fuel made from grain that Evans describes as “basically like moonshine” — is to the environment. According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that high-blend ethanol fuels can significantly reduce harmful exhaust emissions such as carbon monoxide (-40 percent) and smog-forming pollutants (-15 percent).”

Some argue that ethanol’s use of grain products could harm the economy by driving up the cost of grain, and that there are other environmentally friendly fuels that would not cause such problems. It is generally agreed upon, though, that ethanol’s environmental impact is better than that of regular gasoline.

Ethanol does not work on all cars, only those that are classified as “flexible fuel vehicles,” which the NEVC said are produced by Chrysler, Ford, GM, and Nissan. A complete list of cars compatible with E85 fuel can be found at www.E85Fuel.com.

Ford’s fuel is located at the old Ford’s Ice Cream plant — 812 West Church Street — and the ice cream parlor that used to reside there will be reopened, along with an ice cream museum.

“We’re trying to build on what was in Newton 30 years ago when it was a real thriving community,” said Evans.

Evans bought the 100-year-old ice cream plant from the city of Newton, and has enlisted Jo Jeff Ford Gordon, granddaughter of original Ford’s Ice Cream owner Jeff Ford, to be on the board of the museum. She will also participate in the ribbon cutting. A Web site for the museum has been established at www.fordsmuseum.org.

Evans hopes to help revitalize both the environment and the town of Newton, and while he’s at it, he wants to help breathe new life into the domestic dairy industry as well.

“There used to be 1,000 dairy farms in Mississippi, now there are less than 200. Our milk is being imported,” he said. But he hopes that with the help of Mississippi State University he can use his fuel/ice cream stop to encourage more of Mississippi’s young people to take an interest in agriculture.