Sometimes Community Rides Into Town on a Bicycle
An evening supporting Laurel House turned into an unexpected encounter with cyclists crossing New York, a search for veterans and first responders, and a reminder of just how many people travel through Newark along the Erie Canal.
There are some evenings when several completely unrelated pieces of community life unexpectedly intersect. Friday night was one of those nights in Newark.
Autumn on the Erie brought neighbors together on the East Avenue bridge for an evening benefiting Laurel House Comfort Care Home. It was hard to imagine a more beautiful setting for the event. The October weather cooperated, the sunset over the Erie Canal was gorgeous, Debbie Abbott provided live music, guests participated in a silent auction, and friends and neighbors gathered over dinner to support an organization whose mission has touched families throughout our community.
Laurel House provides compassionate end-of-life care at no cost to residents and their families, something that is only possible because of tremendous community support. Events like Autumn on the Erie are fun evenings for those attending, but anyone who has ever helped organize a fundraiser knows how much work takes place long before the first guest arrives.
While we were sitting on the bridge enjoying the evening, another group with a mission of its own happened to ride into Newark.
The Bicycle Boys Arrive in Newark
A group of cyclists came into view along the Erie Canalway Trail, and naturally, I wanted to know where they had come from and where they were headed. They introduced themselves as the Bicycle Boys, and by the time they reached Newark, they had ridden nearly 75 miles that day from Albion.
Newark was only one stop on a much larger journey. In recognition of the 250th anniversary of the United States, the group is riding most of New York's Empire State Trail. Their route began in Buffalo and follows the Erie Canal east toward Albany before turning south for the final stretch to Battery Park in Manhattan.
The ride is also a fundraiser benefiting the Gary Sinise Foundation and, specifically, its Educating the Next Generation program. The program helps connect younger generations with American history while also providing educational opportunities for children and families of fallen and disabled military service members and first responders.
As we talked, it became clear that fundraising wasn't the only mission the Bicycle Boys had brought with them. They were carrying a book and hoping to fill it with 250 signatures from veterans and first responders they encountered during their journey, representing America's 250th anniversary.
Somehow, they decided it would be a good idea to hand that book to me.
I jokingly warned them that giving the town social butterfly a book and asking her to find veterans and first responders could get interesting.
It did.
A Mission Meets a Community
We began finding veterans and first responders among the people gathered for Autumn on the Erie who were willing to add their signatures. During their brief time at the event, the Bicycle Boys also had the opportunity to meet Newark Mayor Jonathan Taylor and Newark Board of Education President Russell Harris.
The encounters may have lasted only a few moments, but that was part of what made the evening interesting. The cyclists had miles to cover and a mission that would keep them moving across New York, while everyone gathered on the bridge was there supporting a mission of our own.
There was an immediate mutual understanding between the two groups. If you've ever tried to raise money for something you care deeply about, you recognize the work involved when you meet someone else doing the same thing. The Bicycle Boys are riding hundreds of miles and asking people to support a cause they believe in. The volunteers and supporters behind Laurel House continually raise money so that people in our own community can receive compassionate end-of-life care without a bill attached to that care.
I shared one of my favorite descriptions of community involvement with the cyclists: the STP Club, or the "Same Ten People."
Every community probably has their own version of the STP Club. They are the people setting up tables, organizing fundraisers, asking for donations, volunteering at events, serving on committees, moving chairs, selling tickets and then staying afterward to clean everything up. Very often, they are the same people you will find helping another organization at another event a few days later.
It is a joke, but anyone involved in community work knows there is quite a bit of truth behind it. There is also a certain respect that develops when people who spend their time supporting others recognize that same commitment in someone else.
On Friday night, two very different missions happened to cross paths on a bridge over the Erie Canal in Newark.
Looking for 250 Signatures
Once I had possession of the Bicycle Boys' signature book, there was really only one thing to do: find more people to sign it.
Their search took us beyond the bridge and into the community, including a stop at the American Legion. We eventually took the book over to the VFW to see who else we might find, and that was where their story unexpectedly intersected with some of my own family's history.
My cousin, Alfred Lindstrom, happened to be there. Alfred is a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and he was able to add his signature to the book that will continue traveling across New York with the Bicycle Boys.
My father was also at the VFW. Dad did not serve in the military himself, but his father served during World War II. As we explained the Bicycle Boys' journey and their decision to make America's 250th anniversary part of their mission, the conversation naturally moved farther back through our family's history.
Much farther back.
A Family Connection Going Back to the Revolutionary War
Our family's connection to this area stretches back to the Revolutionary War. One of my ancestors, William Hause, served during the war, and our family's presence in this part of New York is connected to land received following that service.
William Hause is buried just south of us in Tyrone, New York. My dad was able to locate his grave and show the Bicycle Boys a photo of where this piece of our family's history can still be found today.
It was one of those moments that made 250 years of American history feel considerably less abstract.
Here was a group of cyclists traveling across New York in recognition of the country's 250th anniversary, carrying a book they hoped to fill with the names of 250 veterans and first responders. During one stop in Newark, that book was signed by a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient. They met the son of a World War II veteran and then learned that the same family's roots in the region could be traced back to a soldier who served during the Revolutionary War.
History wasn't something sitting in a textbook at that moment. It was standing in a VFW in Newark, New York, connecting one generation to another.
The People Passing Through Our Little Town
The entire experience also made me think about something those of us who live here may not fully appreciate.
We see the Erie Canal every day. We drive over it on our way to work. We walk along it, ride bicycles beside it, hold community events near it and watch boats pass through during the warmer months. Because it is such a familiar part of Newark, it can easily become part of the background.
For someone else, however, Newark may be one of the communities they have specifically planned to reach that day.
Cyclists travel through on the Erie Canalway Trail. Boaters stop along the canal. Visitors eat at our restaurants, grab coffee, visit local businesses, walk through downtown, spend the night and then continue on their journeys. Some are traveling across a significant portion of New York State, and unless we happen to cross paths with them, most of us never know they were here.
That is one of the reasons I love being out and involved in this community. You never really know who is going to come through town or what story they are carrying with them.
The Bicycle Boys arrived in Newark as strangers riding bicycles along the canal. By the time they continued their journey, they knew a little more about the community they had passed through. They learned about Laurel House and met some of the people working to support it. They met our mayor and school board president. They visited our American Legion and VFW. They collected signatures from local veterans and first responders. They met a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and they learned about a Revolutionary War soldier buried a couple of counties over whose descendants still call this area home.
In return, Newark became one small part of the story they will carry with them as they continue across New York.
Maybe that is one of the best parts of living along the Erie Canal. The canal doesn't simply run through Newark. It brings people through Newark.
Sometimes community is something we carefully plan for months. Sometimes it is a fundraiser on a bridge. Sometimes it is the Same Ten People showing up once again because there is work to be done.
And every once in a while, community rides into town on a bicycle while you're eating dinner.
Learn More
To learn more about Laurel House Comfort Care Home, visit:
https://laurelhousecomfortcare.org/
To learn more about the Bicycle Boys Tour of the Empire State Trail and support their fundraiser benefiting the Gary Sinise Foundation:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-bicycle-boys-tour-the-empire-state-trail
To learn more about the Gary Sinise Foundation and its programs supporting veterans, first responders and their families:
