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| AS&R Bicycle Valet Parking generously sponsored by Bua Luang Thai Cuisine (Photo credit: Ken McCroskey) |
Always room for more! We even parked non-bicycles!
(Photo credit: Tony Caine)
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| Heather charms another prospective AS&R member (Photo credit: Sherie Reineman) |
Bike Valet Parking in full swing. Mac McCurdy signing up some eager customers.
(Photo credit: Sherie Reineman)
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2009 Photos and Fun:
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, marked the Albany Strollers & Rollers' FIRST BOOTH at the Solano Avenue Stroll. We were situated just below Masonic, where we parked 74 bicycles, two skateboards, one stroller, and one wagon, thanks to the bike stands hand built and constructed by Ken McCroskey and assembled with the help of Peter and Lucas Picard. Our valets throughout the day were Heather Cunningham, Kate Rowland, Anne Malamud, Buddy Williams, Peter Rowland, Anne Shortall, Susan Moffett, and Nick Pilch. We also sold the blinking bicycle lights Amy Smolens ordered, with each light purchased being matched by a free light going to an Albany school child.
Thanks to Allen Cain of the Solano Avenue Stroll Association for helping
to secure our perfect space nearby the Ohlone bicycle path, and to the Meridian International Sports Café
for its sponsorship, which made it possible to purchase materials for
constructing our own bicycle racks. Also, much thanks to Carrie
Harvilla, the new outreach director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition,
who helped with parking much of the day and brought us materials for
signing-up new members. We signed-up several new members for the EBBC,
encouraged Albanians to join our local group, gave away bicycle maps,
and held a raffle for a bike bag contributed by the EBBC.
Finally, a great big thanks to Robert Raburn, executive director of the EBBC, who inspired us to take on this much appreciated service (lots of people came by our booth to say thanks even though some were not cyclists) and whose support continues to make the East Bay a more bicycle friendly place.
Sylvia Paull
From Ken:
Many thanks to Sylvia for all her
work organizing the booth over many months, and for being at the Stroll
from set-up through take down! Thanks also to Sherie Reineman who
dropped by with a sprained ankle when she should have been at home and
who was there in spirit all day. 74 bikes is great for our first year. I
expect many more next year, as people come to expect us.
Posted by Sherie Reineman, for Sylvia Paull/Ken McCroskey
History
I remember the meeting. Ashley at Chipotle had agreed to give us burritos for our meeting and Amy had just come from there and we crossed paths as I (Sherie) was walking in a daze, having just walked right past the intersection to turn left onto San Carlos to Nick's house, lost in a epiphanous reverie resulting from the last Traffic & Safety meeting (wherein Ann Chaney had stated that lane width and striping had not yet come up in discussions/negotiations with BART) ... and then I had just returned from a grocery errand to Monterey Market on foot, where I had noticed the many patches of pine needles and the sloping lilt to the pedestrian path in certain places....
It was Sylvia's first meeting (AS&R). As the agenda for the meeting unfolded, and we listed our projects and priorities, Sylvia mentioned Solano Stroll, and we added it to the list.
In a day's time, she had contacted the principals of the Stroll and determined that it wasn't too late to get a "booth" fee, but since it was past deadline, it would cost us $150 dollars. So we decided to ask EBBC if we could piggy-back onto their space, in exchange for helping out with their bike valet operation and also signing folks up for EBBC. It was not the optimum situation, because the EBBC booth was at the opposite end of the street from Albany, but the partnership with EBBC would prove to be enlightening and educational, as well as taking the opportunity to spend a good day working side-by-side with Robert Raburn and some of the EBBC regulars and officers.
We picked up some valuable pointers from Robert and Pat, not only in how to set up bike-valet racks, but the process of checking a bike in/out of the bike-valet station. (Later, for "Dinner with Albany" I made a bike-claim check-in list for AS&R, so we can use that next year. Will need to purchase claim check tickets (or make something similar with a sequential numbering system)
Overview
2008 marked a first-exposure of AS&R at the Stroll. Nick was pre-committed to his own city council election campaign "Pick Nick" booth, and Preston was pre-committed to his "election reform" booth. Additionally, Amy would be in Beijing working the 2008 summer Olympic Games. That left Sylvia, Ken and Sherie of the "core" group, plus whoever stepped up from the membership.
Objectives
AS&R's presence at the Solano Stroll:
- Promote AS&R as a helpful citizen-based advocacy group in our community
- Team with EBBC
- Facilitate Albany's SR2S program via sales of our red blinky lights
Team
Sylvia Paull, Sherie Reineman, Ken McCroskey, Heather Cunningham
| Date | Bikes Parked |
AS&R Participants | New Members | Location | Materials/Sponsors |
| 9/14/08 | Sylvia, Sherie, Ken | 10 (additionally, we assisted EBBC sign up 51 new EBBC members) | EBBC Bike Valet lot: Wells Fargo Bank |
Theme: "Stroll for Health". |
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9/13/09 |
74 | Sylvia, Ken, Heather, Peter and Lucas P., Anne M., Anne S., Buddy, Peter and Kate R., Susan M. | ?? |
Solano Ave., west of Masonic ("pumpkin" lot next to Sophia Cafe) | Theme: "Come Together". Portable table, Popup tent (Ken); bike valet parking racks (Ken); BVP claim tickets (from EBBC); Meridian International Sports Cafe of Berkeley; parked 74 bikes, 2 scooters, 1 stroller and 1 wagon; sold 15 lights. Ken researched, constructed, and set up (with help of others) our new AS&R portable bike racks. |
| 9/12/2010 | 206 | Sylvia coordinated; BVP and AS&R table: Tony Caine, Mark Collins, Heather, Jeff Essex, Jenny Frank, Sheri Mainquist, Anne M., Swarna Matz, Ken, Mac McCurdy, Francesco Papalia, Miriam Petruck, Peter, Sherie, and Ann S. | 12 | Solano Ave, west of Masonic ("pumpkin patch" lot) |
Theme: "A Global A-Faire". Portable table, Popup tent (Ken); bike valet parking racks (Ken); BVP claim tickets (from EBBC); Bua Luang sponsored; Tay Tah provided lunch for volunteers (sandwich & sodas); Safeway lights - gave away 125; sold 19 rear blinky lights. Parked 206 bicycles (including one electric Zip scooter), 4 scooters, and 2 tubas. |
