MORGANTOWN – In spring, a young kid’s fancy turns to … pedals.
Spoked wheels.
Those nifty streamers attached to handlebars.
And maybe catching some big air, if you hit that bump by the driveway just right and your mom doesn’t see you.
“Well, that’s what we’re thinking,” said Vickie Trickett, the exalted ruler and president of Elks Lodge No. 11 in Morgantown.
She’s referring to next week’s “Spring Fling Fest” at the lodge on 1138 Chestnut Ridge Road.
The event, which runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 28, is about bikes.
You can thank We Bike WV and All Kids on Bikes for that, Trickett said.
We Bike WV and All Kids on Bikes are Morgantown nonprofits that pair young riders with free bicycles (new or repaired, with safety helmets standard) who might not have the opportunity to pedal otherwise.
“We’ve partnered with them for years,” Trickett said. “They do a good job and families love them.”
Well, actually, she said, the afternoon is more than that two-wheeled way of getting around and having fun.
Bikes, however, do make a good metaphor, Trickett said, for next weekend’s gathering.
After all, she reasoned, a bike doesn’t do anything unless it has a strong force – a kid, with energy to burn – making those wheels go, by way of all that pedal-power.
Same, the exalted ruler said, for all the other organizations that will be found at the fling.
Information will be available for the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center, Christian Help, Pantry Plus More, On Eagles’ Wings Therapeutic Horsemanship and the Elks Drug Awareness Program, Trickett said.
“You’ve got a lot of good people doing a lot of good work,” Trickett said.
And spring, she said, is both about renewal and reaffirming the mission. Visit “Elks Lodge 411” on Facebook for more information on the lodge – and all the things it does to reaffirm its mission.
“We’re about the kids and our community,” Trickett said. “We’re about being here, doing what we can to help.”
