Tag: Newark Bike Project

Despite threatening weather on May 16, BikeNewark partnered with the City of Newark, the University of Delaware (UD), DelDOT, Delaware Commute Solutions, and Newark Bike Project to celebrate national Bike to Work Day in Newark.

More than 50 people registered for and attended the hour-long, early-morning event, which has traditionally been held on the University of Delaware’s main campus. At Mentors’ Circle attendees enjoyed light breakfast items, free Bike Month t-shirts (courtesy of DelDOT and the Delaware Bicycle Council), commuting and local biking info, great networking, and brief speeches by local and state officials.

BikeNewark member, Kristen Cribb, acted as the event’s emcee. Introduced first was UD’s Dean of the Graduate College and BikeNewark member Lou Rossi. Rossi is a fanatical bicycle commuter, thus well suited to have spoken at this event. Rossi welcomed everyone on behalf of the host institution.

Having been elected as Newark’s new city mayor less than six weeks earlier, Mayor Travis McDermott, spoke about the many ways the City of Newark has improved conditions for bicyclists over the past few years.

Next at the podium was State Rep. Cyndie Romer, who represents a good chunk of the Newark area. She gave a wonderful advertisement for bicycling and, in particular, bicycling in Newark.

The event’s keynote speaker was New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry, a UD alumnus who was elected in November to fill the vacancy left by now–Delaware Governor Matt Meyer. Henry talked about the importance of local and county cooperation, particularly with regard to projects that enhance multimodal transportation.

BikeNewark chair Bob McBride then announced and presented the annual Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award. This year’s recipient was longtime Delaware State Senator Dave Sokola, who represents part of Newark and areas to the city’s northeast. Standing with Rep. Romer, Sokola was surprised to hear his name called to receive this award. No one else was, though, as he has been such an integral player in the advancement of all things related to bicycling within the Delaware legislature and locally here in Newark.

BikeNewark’s Mark Deshon and Kristen Cribb then drew names of lucky attendees at random to win one of ten giveaways, with a combined value of $450. Gift sponsors included BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, University of Delaware, and Wooden Wheels.

Additional Event Photos

On May 17, BikeNewark partnered with the City of Newark, the University of Delaware (UD), DelDOT, and Delaware Commute Solutions to celebrate national Bike to Work Day in Newark.

About 75 people attended the hour-long, early-morning event, which has traditionally been held on the University of Delaware’s main campus. At Mentors’ Circle attendees enjoyed light breakfast items, free Bike Month t-shirts (courtesy of DelDOT and the Delaware Bicycle Council), free UD Police t-shirts, commuting and local biking info, great networking, and brief speeches by local and state officials.

BikeNewark’s Secretary, Michael Smith, acted as the event’s emcee. Introduced first was Matt Robinson, UD’s Director of Community Engagement. Robinson welcomed everyone on behalf of the host institution and spoke of how important University–community partnerships are to the overall success of the city.

Newark City Councilwoman and bicycle advocate Corinth Ford spoke about her long history of bicycling in Newark and how much conditions have improved overall for bicyclists.

The event’s co-keynote speakers were local state legislators Rep. Paul Baumbach and Sen. Dave Sokola. Baumbach shared a story of how bicycling has been a key influence in his life. Sokola spoke about how important it has been for the city, county, BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, WILMAPCO, and DelDOT to work together to help plan and fund the improvements we’ve witnessed recently in Newark as well as in projects going forward.

City of Newark Mayor Jerry Clifton then joined City Manager Tom Coleman and BikeNewark chair Bob McBride to announce and present the annual Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award. This year’s recipient was City staff member Joe Spadafino, the retiring city Director of Parks & Recreation.

Spadafino was chosen because, as head of the city’s Parks & Recreation department, he has been very influential in working with BikeNewark to develop and promote bicycling routes and trails throughout the city’s many parks and greenspaces, including guiding the Emerson Bridge project and the in-progress project that will connect the bridge to the Pomeroy Trail (Newark’s North Bikeway) with two separate trails. He continued the wonderful legacy of our city’s Parks & Rec directors, following James F. Hall and Charlie Emerson.

Bloom Energy and W. L. Gore & Associates were each represented by several employees who biked in for the event.

BikeNewark’s Mark Deshon and Michael Smith then drew names of attendees at random to win one of nine giveaways, with a combined value of $400. Gift sponsors included BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, University of Delaware, Trek, Wooden Wheels, Deer Park Tavern, and Klondike Kate’s.

To conclude the proceedings, attendees gathered at the south steps of Hullihen Hall to pose for a group photo.

Special thanks go to UD’s Kathy Atkinson for photographically covering the event (including all the photos shown here).

Additional Event Photos