On Friday, May 6^th, from 5:30 to 7:30pm, Concord International Elementary held their second annual Family BBQ and Bike Rodeo with arrangements made by Feet First, Cascade Bicycle Club, and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).  As part of Bike and Walk to School Month, families of Concord students were openly invited to attend the event to enjoy free food and cycling fun.

Upon arrival, parents were required to sign a waiver authorizing their children to safely participate in the cycling games while wearing a helmet.  At the bike maintenance station, some students got their tires pumped up while others got their flats replaced with new tubes.

While parents were securing their family some tasty food in the picnic area, students made their way to the helmet fitting station to get the right sized helmet properly fitted to the individual rider.

Meredith Wilson, an AppleCorps member from Solid Ground helps with helmet fittings.

Though rain was present throughout the evening the picnic area and most of the rodeo stations remained dry under protective canopies.  The cycling course was not protected from the rain, but that did not stop the students from having fun with it!  The course featured games like Crazy Crossroads where cyclists would make a complete stop and look left, then right, and left again before proceeding through the rest of the course.

In all, about 250 people attended, and 60 helmets were given out to students!  Also, three brand new bicycles were given out as prizes at the end of the event.Thanks to Feet First, Cascade Bicycle Club, SDOT, and Randy Stevenson’s hot dog crew for the event planning and for providing the info, food, and fun.  Most importantly, many thanks go out to the diligent volunteers who donated their time and hard work for the event:  parents, grandparents, after school CLC program staff, fellow AppleCorps members and supervisor, family of Jenny Almgren, and Concord staff.  On all sides of the event, from set-up to clean-up, we all worked together to make the event a success!

Concord International Elementary School in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood is the recipient of a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant for 2009-2011 from the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT).  Encouragement campaigns like Bike and Walk to School Month and community building activities like the Family BBQ and Bike Rodeo have been rewarding activities for the students in this wonderful community.