Photo by Marty Herbert
Madelaine Salas
Monday morning, May 20 at the Mountain Vista School auditorium in Oracle, the atmosphere is charged with excitement. At the end-of-year awards ceremony, the school principal, Crystle Nehrmeyer, is doing what she does best: leading, urging, rewarding and challenging her students to become the best versions of themselves they can be. And the kids know the rewards are now at hand. Working with Ms. Nehrmeyer, Ken Perkins, SaddleBrooke CycleMaster member, coordinated the presentation of brand-new bicycles and helmets to students in first through sixth grade who have demonstrated growth, dedication and positiveness during the school year. As part of the CycleMasters commitment to community, the bikes were purchased by the CycleMasters with funds received from the club delivering the SaddleBrooke Progress to all the homes in SaddleBrooke over the past year. Nine CycleMasters attended the ceremonies at Mountain Vista and all were touched and humbled by the sheer joy and happiness of these children receiving their bicycles. After all, it’s the same joy and happiness we CycleMasters experience on our own bicycles and we know the feeling well.
The following evening, the scene was repeated at the school in San Manuel. Principal Ms. Katy Wilkins and Ken Perkins again coordinated the presentation of an additional six bicycles and helmets to the students achieving milestones there this past school year. Twelve CycleMasters attended this ceremony and CycleMaster President, Bob Salas, elicited promises from each of the awarded students that they would always ride safely and always wear their bicycle helmets.
This rewarding endeavor would not be possible without the help of so many: Robson allowing CycleMasters to deliver the newspapers; the SaddleBrooke CycleMasters who actually deliver the SaddleBrooke Progress each month; Oro Valley Bicycle allowing us to purchase bikes and helmets at a significant discount (and who also assembles the bikes for us); the CycleMaster volunteers who coordinate the ordering, pick-up and delivery of the bicycles (among them, Ken Perkins, Steve Aikens, Skip Brauns, Ken Larson, Bud Chase and Bob Salas) and Marty Herbert who recorded these events in pictures. Many thanks to them and to the school principals for helping CycleMasters recognize these deserving students.