(click picture to enlarge)
What do you get when you mix the following ingredients?
- 40 children on bicycles
- A few hundred yards of colored ribbons
- Hundreds of balloons
- Half a mile of tape
- Lots of glue
- 6 Laurel Police officers, half of them on super cool police bikes
- 40 pounds of ice cream
- A warm summer evening
You get a brand new Laurel tradition!
Laurel City Council member Gayle Snyder organized the first ever Laurel bike decorating contest, bike parade and ice cream social tonight. It was a great success and surely a brand new tradition for Laurel.
The kids decorated their bikes at the Laurel Armory and then paraded with a full police escort down the 400 block of Montgomery Street. Adults had a chance to catch up with friends and neighbors. Everyone had a great time enjoying Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream bars.
Kudos to Councilwoman Gayle Snyder and her team of helpers for a wonderful idea, beautifully executed. (I believe Mr. Fred Snyder deserves special thanks for collecting goodies all day.) Laurel Police Officers did a fantastic job keeping the parade route safe. Council Member Mike Leszcz, State Senator Jim Rosapepe and Mayor Craig Moe also took time out of hectic schedules to join in the fun. Joanne Wilson had the unenviable job of judging the bike decorating contest. But everyone was a winner tonight as a new Laurel tradition was born. Be sure to join Gayle next year on the first Friday in June for this annual event.
11 comments:
I see a number of children on their bicycles without helmets. Since it's neither safe nor legal, was anything said about this to their parents?
Bike Decorating? Are you serious? This is what our Council Members do?
I guess all the other problems with our City have been solved. So at least that's good to know.
I'm just glad they didn't have the contest down the 4th St. Expressway. Well done, I think.
the helmets issue is serious - perhaps in the future we can make sure that we have some helmets for kids who come without (and if some donations can be worked out, maybe they can take them home in order to be safer)
as to the "all the other problems of the community must have been solved" I am happy that they can take a moment to be involved with the kids - we would all be better off if everyone, no matter how "important" their work or mission, took a bit more time to spend with the kids.
Helmets are really important. My fathers friend actually still suffers from an accident he had on a bike as a kid.
We should make sure we are setting an example for our kids and not needlessly endangering them at city sanctioned events.
Congratulations Rick! The Post article is outstanding and the recognition is well deserved. Your blog is a real community treasure.
As for Gayles event, I think it was a fantastic idea and I'm sure she'll look into the helmet issue in the future.
I'm sorry I missed it!
The scoff from John C. is understandable, but I still think it's admirable for Council Members to take part in fostering the community. It's not in their expansive job description, and you won't find it on their long list of responsibilities, but it's just as crucial to a healthy Old Town Laurel.
Bike decorating. We're serious. We roll deep here in Old Town.
Imagine my surprise when I opened the Source section of today's Post and saw a picture of my old buddy and fellow Laurel Cable star, Rick Wilson!
The Sunday Post is one of my indulgences. I pick it up, at a cost of $3.50, at the local Borders every Sunday on my way home from playing the organ at a church in Braddock, PA, a church that is right across the street from a working steel mill.
Now that I know about the blog, I can stay in touch with the city I lived in and grew to love, even though I live in the rather rural Murrysville, PA.
Thanks Barb! I'm glad you are doing well. Maybe I should start vid-casting too.
I probably should start a blog and/or set up a website since I'm trying to earn some extra money as a writer. I realize a site won't earn money, but it is a place to show what I can do and to post copies of the column I write for "In Murrysville", a community magazine. My column isn't in the on-line version (www.inmurrysville.com).
Saw your blog in the Washington Post yesterday - kuddos to you! I think neighborhood blogs are great - we started one 3 years ago and it is a great success.
Check us out sometime:
www.breezysac.com
If Burtonsville doesn't get its act together, the Dutch Country Farmers Market could move to Upper Marlboro: check out Just Up The Pike.
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