YMCA Youth Cycling Program = AWESOME!

[jamesframes]

Bike It!, The YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County Youth Cycling Program for kids aged 10-15, Eight Saturdays, September 10 - November 5, 9am-noon. Each session includes instruction and a bike ride. All participants receive a T-shirt, water bottle, patch kit and bike multi-tool. Bikes and helmets available, or bring your own. Registration: $35 YMCA Members, $50 Non-members. Scholarships are available. Register at the Y Membership Office. For more information, call Tom Polk at 845-338-3810, extn 102 or email [email protected]<mailto>
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If I can bicycle, I bicycle.
David Attenborough




Support your LBS-Bicycle Depot New Paltz NY

[paetersen]

would the club sponsor some kinds that might have a hard time coming up with 50 bucks?

[GG]

Scholarships are available and the board will also discuss your proposal....

[jamesframes]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2016


Contact:
Tom Polk
YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County
845-338-3810 x102
[email protected]


Bike Club at the Everette Hodge Center in Midtown Kingston – Local Youth Learn Bike Safety and Handling Skills

Kingston, NY – You may have seen a line of children on bikes with brightly-colored t-shirts traveling around Kingston earlier in the year. This fall, starting on September 30th, children who attend the Everette Hodge Community Center Afterschool Program will be back on their bikes, participating in the Hodge Center Bike Club. In Bike Club, the children learn to ride safely on Kingston’s streets and on local rail trails, where they leave the concrete sidewalks for the forested rail trail. They are becoming experts on rules of the road, bike handling skills, riding in a group, and teamwork, while enjoying some healthy exercise in the beautiful outdoors that surrounds their city.

Tom Polk, YMCA Board Member, started the Hodge Bike Club as a volunteer in 2013. In the beginning, Tom volunteered his time and worked with Megan Weiss-Rowe, the Hodge Center’s Director, to get the club off the ground. Tom is a certified bicycle instructor through the League of American Bicyclists and has been joined by staff of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County and a group of volunteers from Bike Friendly Kingston. Together, they lead the club and find resources to sustain the program in the fall, spring, and summer.

Tom notes, “The Bike Club has been a phenomenal experience for me as a bicycle safety educator. One day, a Kingston police officer joined us for a ride, and afterward he said that he noticed that the kids seem to feel like a Mayor in a parade, so proud of themselves while riding through their neighborhoods waving and saluting everyone they know along the way.”

Mayor Steve Noble encourages the idea of participants feeling like junior mayors, stating, “I have attended some of these bike rides and am so proud of the progress each child has made. This is a wonderful program that is teaching our children that with hard work, focus, and attention to safety and detail, they can achieve their goals. The outpouring of community support as neighbors cheer on the club members has been so special to the children. I encourage all of our neighbors to continue to support our kids as they travel throughout the city.”

“This program is incredibly important to our children’s confidence, self-esteem, safety, and physical health,” said Megan. “They have the opportunity to explore trails and paths in and around our community which they would otherwise not know about or have access. This program is making their world a little bigger on each ride!”
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“I’ve seen the children improve in confidence, pride, and safety awareness while they are getting physically fit,” Megan added. “The community’s response has also been very positive. Drivers pause patiently for the children to pass with a big smile on their faces.”

Currently, the club is funded through a generous grant from the Woodstock Land Conservancy. In the past three years, the program has evolved with the support of several different funding sources. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, through a grant from the New York Department of Health, provided bikes for the club to use. Various funders including the City of Kingston Community Development Block Grant, the Helen’s Hope Foundation and the New York Bicycle Coalition have supported the program.

“As someone who has loved bicycling for much of her life, I’m excited for the opportunities that this presents the kids in discovering the freedom one feels on a bicycle, the possibility it affords to be outside and exercising and the links the rail trails provide to the beautiful countryside just beyond where these kids live,” said Maxanne Resnick, Woodstock Land Conservancy Executive Director.


Bike Club Ready to Ride!

To find view more photos from our adventures on bikes or to find out more, visit the Everette Hodge Center Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EveretteHodgeCommunityCenter?fref=ts We would be delighted if you would like to support the Bike Club with resources such as funding, supplies such as bikes, or volunteers. If you have questions or you would like to support us, contact Tom Polk at [email protected] or 845-338-3810, x 102.

About the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County: The YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County was established in 1866 and is part of the worldwide YMCA movement. The Y offers childcare, summer camps, swim lessons, wellness education and fitness facilities. The Y is an open, inter-faith movement which advocates Christian principles through programs that build character, respond to community needs, and help build spirit, mind and body for all. YMCA membership is open all in the community without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, economic background, economic status, or citizenship.

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About the Everette Hodge Afterschool Program – The Everette Hodge Community Center is a city-owned and operated community center located on Franklin St. in Midtown Kingston. The drop-in after school program operates Monday-Friday, 2:30pm-5:15 throughout the school year and is coordinated by the Kingston Parks and Recreation Department and Family of Woodstock, Inc. The program provides structured youth activities, nutritious snacks, academic support and enrichment, healthy recreation and family support services.

About the Woodstock Land Conservancy: The Woodstock Land Conservancy is a non-profit organization committed to the protection and preservation of the open lands, forests, wetlands, scenic areas and historic sites in Woodstock, NY, and the surrounding area. Since its founding in 1988, WLC has conserved more than 1,000 acres in the area, at times through the collaboration with other agencies or organizations. WLC is a strong supporter of Ulster County’s plan in extending its recreational rail trail system, creating linkages between trails for the enjoyment of the local community and tourists alike. The Kids Bike Club is helping to create skilled bicyclists that will then have access to the spectacular natural world which surrounds them.
_________________
If I can bicycle, I bicycle.
David Attenborough




Support your LBS-Bicycle Depot New Paltz NY