Bikes for Books - 2012

The Bikes for Books program has been a long time in coming.  We have worked hard at raising funds and now it has come to fruition.  Here is a picture of all 32 bikes while still in the box.  SFE Manufacturing of Caribou was kind enough to allow us to use their facility to assemble the bikes and store them there until they can be delivered.

So the next step is to get the bikes out of the boxes and put them together.  I was very happy to have  

Duane Walton & Paul Harmon

 ten brethren show up on a Wednesday evening to help with the assembly.  It took us two hours and I think we all had a good time.

 Duane and Paul, two true bike enthusiasts worked very hard on the 20 inch bikes.  We had to keep Paul on task because he seemed to want to make some alterations like on American Choppers.

There were some surprises to the evening, we hadn't considered that the larger bikes would have

Ralph Conroy and John Deveau

gears that would have to be adjusted.  Fortunately in a former place of employment, W. Ralph Conroy had worked on fixing and assembling bikes so he and John Deveau tackled the larger more challenging bikes and left the smaller bikes to the rest of us.   I think Ralph and John took pity on the rest of us and wanted to get done before Midnight.


Having not put a bike together in a while we all had to do some remembering and a little trial and

Jerry Drake , Joe Cheney, and Greg Anderson

 error.  I think Greg had a part left over and it looks like he is really giving it some consideration,

The evening ended with around 8:30 pm and I sincerely want to thank all of the guys for their help.  Not pictured here were Mack Haines, Wendell Spooner and David Spooner.  Afterwards a few of the guys went to Tim Hortons for a cup of coffee.  The night was a complete success.

We began awarding the bikes on Friday the 25th of May in New Sweden, then Hilltop Elementary in Caribou on the 29th, Woodland on the 30th and concluded at Teague Park in Caribou on May 31st. 

Teague Park Students in Caribou

 Attending one or more of the awarding ceremonies of the bikes were Erich Margeson, Wendell Spooner, Duane Walton, Greg Anderson, Jody Smith, and David Spooner.

The kids were all great sports cheering for all of the winners no matter who won.  One young lady in Woodland read 41 books to increase her chances of winning one of these bikes.  In every case the kids were most appreciative to us for their new bikes.  I think this is an absolutely great program for any lodge to participate in and hope that Caribou Lodge continues with in for years to come.

We also received some good media coverage in the Aroostook Republican, WAGM TV, and on Channel X Radio as you can here by clicking below.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx5iKLPeGpXcdktkSkRXaUp3Y0E/edit


The businesses that donated with the program were:

Felch & Company, The Caribou Trading Post, The Bank of Maine, Car Quest, Sports Inn & Bowladrom, Wardwell's Service Inc., Eric J & Mary Ann Scott, Aroostook County Electric, Jim's Auto Care, Pines Health Services, Solman & Hunter P.A., NorState Federal Credit Union, County Federal Credit Union, Clukey's Parts & Equipment, Powers Roofing, Gallagher Ins. Agency, Alphies Barbershop, Ken Hensler, Channel X Radio, Paradis Shop & Save, Robert Irving, Jepson Financial Advisors, Cary Medical Center, Aroostook County Federal Savings & Loan, Northern Maine Ins. Services, Paterson Manter Properties, Barresi Financial Inc, Key Bank, ReEnergy, C.S. Management, Albear Resturant, Russetto's, Plourde & Plourde Inc., Family Chiropractic, Caribou Inn & Convention Center, Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center, and Sleepers.

We will be putting a thank you in the paper, however if you get the chance to thank and support these businesses please do so.

Here are just a few of the thirty two kids who won bikes this year as a result of our Bikes for Books program.  I think you can see the joy and pride in their faces.

Here is a response from just one of the Principals from the four schools we worked with.

Good Afternoon,

I just want to say thank you again for providing the bikes for our kids.   The children are so very excited, as are their parents.  What a great incentive to get children to READ!! :-)  Thank you for supporting the education of the students at Teague Park School.

Tanya

 Tanya Belanger, Principal

Teague Park School

59 Glenn St.

Caribou, ME 04736