The Conestogo Winterbourne Optimist Club is getting set to hold its annual bike rodeo and family fun day on May 20 at Conestogo Community Park.
In the morning (starting at 10 a.m.) kids under 12 are invited to bring their bikes and helmets for an hour of safety training and bike inspections through six stations.
“If they need air in their tires, or if anything needs tightening, there’s a couple of people that look at their bikes first to make sure they’re safe and teach them how to look at that stuff,” said Steph Forte, who is helping to organize the event. There will also be six trophies for each age group.
“It’s been running for years and years and it’s just a way to help kids remember to be safe when they’re on their bikes, and road safety too,” she said.
At 5 p.m., families are invited back to the park for an evening of kids amusement rides, food trucks, games, and entertainment by Erick Traplin. While the bike rodeo is free, entrance to the evening event will be $5 per person or $15 per family, with the food trucks and rides being an additional cost. It’s a cash-only event.
This is a big fundraiser for the Optimist Club, which supports several organizations in the region. However, which one it will support has yet to be decided.
“After each event that we hold we take a look around the community and see where the need is. Our latest contribution was to the adolescent children and adolescent inpatient program at Grand River Hospital,” explained Forte.
“We’re just really hoping to make it a very family friendly evening and day in general. Hopefully, people know that we keep the costs low because the entrance amount has not gone up in years and years. And so that the money that we make can go back to the community,” Forte added.
