After 12 years of boy scouts, sophomore Casey Ballor’s Eagle Scout project was finally upon him, his chance to show his leadership skills. With no idea what to do, he did what most kids would: he googled it.
After surfing the web for a while, Ballor stumbled upon the Bike Safety Rodeo program. It had been shut down for about 10 years and Ballor knew it was the perfect project to reboot.
“I’m not really sure why they stopped running the program but I thought it would be nice to revive it again,” Ballor said.
With the help from Kent County Officer Mandy Trevino, Ballor began his work to restart the program, while earning his Eagle badge.
After four months of teamwork between Trevino, Ballor, other boy scouts and the local community, the program was officially revived. On May 5, Grand Rapids had one of its first Bike Safety Rodeos in 10 years at the Plainfield Township Offices in Belmont.
“This program is an important way to teach young riders where to ride, to be safe, to be seen and how to wear their helmet properly,” Trevino said.
During the event, there was a real-life simulation set up in the back parking lot of the Plainfield offices for students to learn in a safe environment. Community police and firefighters showed up as well.
“The crime prevention association of Michigan gave us a $250 grant to fund the Bike Safety Program,” Ballor said.
Some of the grant money was used for a small snack area for participants and to buy two bikes and helmets to raffle off. The Plainfield rodeo was a success and kids went home with not only the knowledge of bike safety but also with a sense of newfound freedom on their set of wheels.
The next event will be held in Algoma township toward the end of July.
“We are seeing a demand for Safety Rodeos again due to seeing bike lanes in our roadways and bike paths all throughout our community. This makes it a perfect time to bring back more Bike Rodeos,” Trevino said.
