Beacon Bits -- A Bit of Earth

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd. It has been almost 50 years since I recall standing on a busy street in Brooklyn with my high school girlfriends with a record player and extension cord borrowed from a local store where the passing shoppers heard us repeatedly singing the song from the musical "Hair" -- "Welcome, sulphur dioxide, hello carbon monoxide, the air, the air is everywhere; breathe deep, while you sleep, breathe deep." It was our version of social media in the 1970s.

Fast forward to the here and now and we are still trying to raise consciousness about the environment and all the impending crises: dirty water, no water, garbage in the oceans, melting arctic ice, vanishing species, hydrocarbons, fracking, GM foods, pesticides, and rail transport of crude oil among others. For those of us living in the Hudson River Valley, we may be ahead of the curve in our understanding and action on the issues; we have had great role models, including Pete Seeger, founder of the Clearwater and its campaign to clean up the PCBs from the river. We know that we still have a lot to do, but we also see the rewards of all our  efforts to make a difference--like standing in awe of the eagles return to Dennings Point.

So I would like to take this Earth Day to celebrate the efforts of one of our local heroes, Sarah Womer, founder of Zero to Go, who recently waged a successful Kickstarter campaign (with a little help from a lot of Beacon friends), to create a pick-up service for compostable materials and in all ways, to raise awareness of waste that shouldn't go to waste. Sarah has been an indomitable force in changing how consumers and venues collect and dispose of garbage at community events. 

Since 2013, Zero to Go has handled 18 events throughout the Hudson Valley and Manhattan, including the Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, The Peekskill Hop and Harvest Festival, Beacon’s Riverfest with Local 845, the HeFestus Iron Pour, benefits for Common Ground Farm and other Beacon events. Now she'll be including Beaconites with the Compost Project. 

You can read more about Sarah on her Zero to Go website; she doesn't need me to tell her story, but she well deserves being held in high esteem for her actions, goals, determination, and dedication to Mother Earth. Congratulations, Sarah!!

Food for thought: 

Persistence is a well studied personal attribute. It is more than 'time on task'. It is also about ambition, eagerness, effort, work discipline, and perfectionism. Amazingly, persistence usually gets stronger in the presence of obstacles and difficulties. Persistence has also been found to be associated with the capacity for self-transcendence. Seeing beyond one's own perspective, that is, selflessness, is an important outcome of persistent behavior. The entire community benefits from the efforts of persistent individuals. So when we think of persistence in Beacon as we celebrate Earth Day, we will always think of Pete, but now you can also think of Sarah Womer, the persistent waste manager. 

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." Tobias Wolf

Beacon Bits -- "For the People, By the People"

Ironically, I am posting this blog entry on the day the federal government shut down. But don't be alarmed, People's Bicycle is still open for business!

 

 

With a name like People's Bicycle, you'd expect good customer service and a user-friendly environment. That's exactly what you get from this warm and congenial team

From left to right, Sarah, Jon, Bryan, Kyle, Aaron and Kantu
Sarah Womer has her own  venture of 'transforming waste into community' with Zero to Go

of local bike enthusiasts and avid techies. Now located at 72 Maple Street (on a quiet residential street, not far from the high school and Memorial Park) in a large open garage space suitable for repairs, assembly, storage and supplies, People's Bicycle has already been in business for 4 years in Beacon. A little off the beaten path from its last location on Chestnut Street, it is definitely in a suitable environment for a growing business.

 

Jon Miles, Manager and Owner, is personable and honest about the work that is

required to adjust or repair the bike you have and want to keep without making you feel inadequate or unsavvy about your unfamiliarity with new equipment and improved bicycles for ergonomic and satisfying cycling, without any sales pressure or hype to make a new purchase. (I'm sure he can speak excellent "bike" with those who are more knowledgeable than I as well.) Educated in economics and political science in college, Jon exudes a comfort about his vision of using bicycle transport for mundane tasks of daily living; he has given up using a car, albeit a challenge, perhaps less so in our locale, reminding me that a bicycle is the most efficient mode of transportation in terms of energy expenditure.

People's Bicycle (PB) sponsored some of the new bike racks, with the PB logo,  near Key Food on Main Street
Designed and manufactured by Dero, an American company in Minneapolis, MN
with assistance from local NYC rep Ben Cramer and community aficionados, Pat Manning and Justin Riccobono

Looking around the shop, you would surmise that this is not necessarily a shop for the bicycle racer, as you notice the baskets and saddle bags, bicycles built for two, and carriage add-ons for riding with small children in tow. "Team PB" is knowledgeable about the integration of cycling within the lifestyle found in  different European countries and cities - like Amsterdam and Berlin - so this global sensibility makes it obvious why there is a map of the world in the office. Jon seemed to enjoy my story from childhood as I reminisced about an aunt in Norway who cycled for daily shopping errands with her American relative tucked in between the packages on the back of her bike, just as he showed his curiosity about an invention in Trondheim that allows bikers to connect to a track that assists them in getting up steep hills. Taking time to listen to a customer is the neighborly thing to do. Jon gets it.

 

At People's Bicycle, there is a vision about creating a bicycle culture for real people and it is palpable. I came into the shop to seek an adjustment to an inexpensive, but new, Schwinn bike I had recently purchased to get out onto the Rail Trail in Dutchess County. Before I could actually bring the bike in, I had a couple of phone conversations and an emergency visit to help put my new bike rack together and secure it to my car.  I was even offered a pick-up in the richshaw-pedicycle that Beaconites have witnessed Jon travel down Main Street!

I appreciated the patience and kindness during these contacts. I also witnessed these qualities with a variety of customers visiting the shop on two occasions: a family retrieving their tried and true bicycles, a father with two children in tow who was more interested in his own bike fantasies as he focused on a new "fat bike" and ignored the excitement of his son looking around the shop, and a pre-teen who showed up as one would arrive at an ER with his bike emergency -- a chain derailment that needed to be fixed quickly so he could get back into action.

Kyle and Aaron focused on problem solving

My bike was ready in several days with the promised work that had been previously estimated and assessed by Jon and Kyle. All ready to go, I left a happy customer, who now felt confident about putting the bicycle rack back onto the car, ready for the trail, knowing I had made some new friends who will be there when I need my tune-ups. Or basket. Or - down the road a bit - a large tricycle made for a geriatric cyclist who has lost her balance!

Food for thought: My confidence and faith in a younger generation who are authentically living the values of their parents' generation -- the quest for decreased pollution, simpler lifestyles, and building connections in community -- was restored  once again after getting a closer look at how this team is running their business and living their lives as role models in the community. I think Jon, with his education, people skills and affable personality, would make a great city councilman or member of Beacon's planning board. With his forward thinking mindset, one could sense that the bike racks and shared-lane markings, known as "sharrows"* and the occasional group rides down Main Street are just the beginning of a what will become a solid bike presence in Beacon.

*Acknowledgements for Beacon's "sharrows" initiative

Mark Roland, Karla Raimundi, Linda Hubbard, Mark Wildonger, Scenic Hudson, Stowe Boyd, Beacon Streets and BeaconArts.
PLEASE SEE COMMENT POSTED BY MARK ROLAND FOR EARLY HISTORY OF PROJECT. 

 

There is a current fundraiser through October 25th, with a modest goal of raising $1,150,
which focuses on expanding the sharrows in Beacon.

People's Bicycle has contributed a number of tune-ups to help support their efforts.

Other local vendors (Mountain Tops, Bank Square, Beacon Creamery and Tito's) are also participating.

Follow the link to the Indiegogo campaign, improving-main-street-beacon

 

SUPPORT INDIEGOGO WITH YOUR DONATION TO BRING MORE SHARROWS TO BEACON!!

People's Bicycle is a new member of BeaconArts