Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — Two fun summertime activities, bikes and ice cream, are coming together at one event on June 13 at Partners in Learning at the Woods, 1775 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Salisbury.

Scheduled for 5-7 p.m., the Bikes and Ice Cream event is free and open to the community to come and have fun.

This is the sixth year that they have hosted this event, said Katelin Rice, development director at Partners in Learning, and they will be partnering with The Pedal Factory, which will be on site offering some free bike riding lessons and bike safety tips, and Partners In Learning will be providing free ice cream.

Rice said that The Pedal Factory has “been such an amazing help in the past” and helps them repair and maintain bikes for the children they serve.

“So the collaboration between them just made a lot of sense,” said Rice. “They are so supportive.” 

Plus, she noted, they thought this event would serve as a “really fun way to have them not only work with the students that we serve, but because it’s open to the public we encourage everybody from the community to come out, They can bring their bikes.”

Mary Rosser, executive director and founding member of The Pedal Factory, which is a nonprofit community bike center, said typically they do an event called Let’s Ride Rowan at a selected location. Last year they held it at the West End through a grant they received.

This year, Rosser said they would be focusing on “partnering with community groups and organizations and schools, whoever wants us to bring bike knowledge and safety and riding lessons to them.”

Partners In Learning reached out to them, Rosser said, and therefore they would be providing their usual Let’s Ride Rowan program at the Friday event during which time attendees could bring their own bikes for free basic repairs.

They will also have balance bikes available for those who don’t know how to ride and want to learn, regardless of the age, and they will have loaner bikes there providing a little safety course.

They will go through ways to check bikes prior to riding to make sure they are safe plus provide helmet checks, and “we’ll have some there as a giveaway if kids don’t have them,” said Rosser, adding that this event was something Partners in Learning wanted to provide for their families and wanted to encourage activity and “we’re all about encouraging bike riding and making sure that kids stay safe.”

Educating the parents is something they also want to provide so they can make sure their child’s bike is safe as well as the helmet fits properly.

“It’s as much for the parents as it is for kids,” said Rosser. “Knowledge is safety.”

Staff members from Partners in Learning will also be on hand helping those from The Pedal Factory, said Rice, along with providing literature and sharing information about the resources they offer and answering any questions that people may have about their mission.

“We just want to show that this is a small reflection of our larger commitment to Salisbury,” said Rice. “Partners in Learning is such a huge proponent of community collaboration, and we saw this as a meaningful way to serve those families and strengthen our shared mission.”

Everybody is encouraged to attend this free community event, she said, noting that they saw this as a good way to bring families and community together. It’s for all ages offering family fun, bikes and some free ice cream.