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Big air for bike safety grant

Big air for bike safety grant

Troy Spear flips in front of David M. Hunt Library Oct. 9.

Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — First Selectman Dave Barger was on hand to see the results of a $5,000 bike safety grant he helped obtain for the Lee H. Kellogg School when the Go Big BMX Air Show came to town Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The school celebrated its summer reading program with a bicycle theme, culminating in the BMX show. Prior to the show, LHK students participated in a Walk, Bike and Roll to School event, meeting in the village at 8:10 a.m. and making their way to the school by 8:20 a.m.

The Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department were also on hand at two intersections to help the students get to school safely.

The BMX riders started at 1:30 p.m.

Joe Mednikoff handled the bulk of the speaking while Troy Spear did most of the riding, including the pivotal moment when he lifted his bike and soared over the prone figures of faculty and staff members Matt Kandel, Jess Willey, Nikki Blass, Amelia Nichols, Lynn Shea and Diane Bossers.

Two bikes and helmets were raffled off after the show.

Blass, who worked with Barger on the grant, said the funds were spent on the BMX performance, which contained material on safety, life skills and bullying. The remainder went to purchase the bikes and helmets, plus locks, and reflectors for other reading program participants.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.
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