Hi fellow AS&R members –
It’s the eve of Bike to Work Day so I’m finally sending out a wrap-up of our fantastic Arts & Green Festival from last Sunday, May 1. I want to publicly and properly thank everyone who helped make the event another great success!
It was a gorgeous day out so, as expected, the crowds were great. Albany Strollers & Rollers and Street Level Cycles were again located in the southeast corner of the park, close to the Arts tables.
Thanks to our generous sponsor, Bua Luang Thai Cuisine, we were able to provide free Bicycle Valet Parking for all the cyclists who rolled to the Festival. Ken McCroskey, Brian Miller, Camden McCroskey and four students from Albany High School’s Connect Academy set up Ken’s hand-built racks. Francesco Papalia and Cassandra (don’t know her last name – I guess she’s like Cher) set up our tables and banners so our signage could be seen from both the south and the west and everything looked neat and attractive. Along with Ken’s large banner, our area looked classier than it ever has. Preston Jordan helped organize the contents of the tables coherently so we had manned stations for people to visit and talk with our members.
Sylvia Paull, Kate Rowland (who helped prep lights in the morning,) Anne Malamud, Brian, Cassandra, Eddie Chau and Anne Shortall kept cranking all day with the Bicycle Valet Parking service. They parked 106 bikes, scooters and strollers throughout the day.
A crucial component of our presence, as always, was Street Level Cycles bringing work stands and mechanics, and offering free tuneups to everyone who turned up! Chris Thompson coordinated the SLC effort. He and the other mechanics Bill Hogan, Eric Delesbore and Randy Zurkis tuned up more than 30 bikes in the four hours of the Festival. AHS student & AS&R intern Anna Urias helped them with tuneups and logistics throughout the morning, learned a lot and had a great time doing so.
Thanks to our supporter, Safeway, we had free front lights to distribute, as for the second straight year they have donated money for 500 front bike lights. AS&R member Tony Caine was the impetus behind this great idea and made the connection with Safeway. He also personally distributed many front bike lights to people who couldn’t believe that there was no catch… nope, just a free light to keep you safe on the road! Both adults and kids took advantage of this great opportunity. And remember, this fall Albany school kids will get 250 of those lights, also supported by Safeway. If you missed this opportunity, we will be distributing more free Safeway lights tomorrow at our Energizer Station on the Ohlone Greenway and Marin Avenue.
Of course, we still have the rear blinking lights for sale, benefiting Albany school kids as well. Tony, Angela Armendariz, Sherie Reineman (who was pulling double duty, having captained a rest station earlier in the day at the Grizzly Peak Century,) I and others sold 27 of them. Angela helped a few kids and parents install the lights, too. We have now sold over 450 during the two years – these old standbys are clearly a big hit. I’d like to thank Laurie, Jamie and Bruce at FunSource, who worked long and hard to make sure that the graphics on both type of lights looked perfect, and that they made it to us in time for the festival!
Preston, Nick Pilch, Ken, Angela, Tony, I and others spoke to many people who stopped by to ask questions about routes to ride, local cycling and pedestrian issues, etc. We signed up 29 new AS&R members, almost a 10% increase in membership. Clearly we are in the right place at the right time.
Gerhard rode his folding bike with a trailer for display and Dan Lieberman’s XtraCycle was a big attraction. Svante Rodegard rolled up with his rare, Danish-made Pedersen Bicycle. Have you seen a bike crossed with a hammock? That would be a Pedersen Bicycle! Sylvia invited Raines Cohen, who had a very unusual side-by-side tandem recumbent. These bikes and others gave the visitors to our booth an idea of just what human-powered possibilities are out there to ride. Many people asked questions about bikes, panniers, and other practical facets of riding.
Bua Luang’s owner, Pat, also provided us with discount coupons for the restaurant to distribute, so no one will be without a delicious Thai dinner for long. If you missed the opportunity, perhaps you can pick some up at Bike to Work Day. Otherwise, I’m sure they’ll partner with us on another event in the future.
Pat and her family also rode over to the festival and brought us a big container of Thai Iced Tea and some sandwiches for our volunteer crew. Those really hit the spot, especially for those of us who were up early in the morning.
Laura Emery again had the envious job of picking up the Chipotle burritos, which Ashley supplied for all the volunteers. With such a busy day, everyone was really hungry and thrilled to see her ride in with her panniers filled with burritos!
In additional to the businesses we usually partner with, we welcomed All In One Fitness to AS&R. Owned by two woman cyclists, Jasmine of AIOF donated a Free Month Membership and an Individual Fitness Consultation for us to raffle off. The lucky winners were Victoria Lee Moy of El Cerrito and Albany’s Pam D’Andrea.
We were also happy to have the EBBC’s new Executive Director, Renee Rivera, spend time at our table while doing outreach for her organization. We appreciate all that the EBBC does to advance cycling in the East Bay!
If you didn’t make it down to the Festival yourself, Francesco took a bunch of photographs of our areas and those pix are posted in Albany Patch’s photo montage of the event. Kudos and thank you to everyone who manned the AS&R table, the BVP signup and the SLC tuneups.
Thanks to Heather Cunningham, who as usual, helped wrangle and organize the volunteers necessary to take on such a big undertaking.
A big thank you goes out to Peggy McQuaid, Peter Goodman, Miya Kitahara, Tom Cooper, Amy St. George, Anne Goess, Erica Petrofsky and Claire Griffing. They along with our own Ken McCroskey, organized the entire festival and kept Albany Strollers & Rollers in the loop regarding all Festival decisions.
Thanks again to all of you who helped out, and I look forward to seeing you again soon!
ciao – Amy Smolens
Leave a Reply