In their quest to promote bicycle safety in Harvard, Cadette Girl Scout troop 30898 earned the highest honor a Cadette Scout can earn, the Girl Scout Silver Award.
After seeing and hearing about many cycling-related accidents in Harvard, which is home to many bicycle enthusiasts and is a favorite cycling destination for many from out of town, the scouts saw the need to promote bicycle safety in the community. Troop members completed one-and-a-half years of work on this community service project during the weekend of Sept. 19 and 20, at the Lion’s Club Fall Festival, where they ran a “Bike Better, Be Better” booth.
In preparation for running the program at the festival, scouts attended two “cyclery workshops” held over the summer by Gene Kalajian of Gear Works Cyclery in Leominster, who instructed them on safety issues and road rules for cyclists, how to do simple bike repairs, and common bicycle breakdowns on a trip, and what to do about them.
The girls also worked closely with Oona Aldrich of the Harvard Fire Department, who has been working with the Harvard Fire, Police, and Ambulance departments over the years to help promote bicycle safety and to educate children and adults on the importance of wearing helmets when bike riding. Prior to the festival, Aldrich helped the scouts brainstorm ideas on promoting cycling safety; she also helped them at the festival booth.
Scouts staffing the Fall Festival “Bike Better, Be Better” booth educated visitors as to why a cyclist should wear a helmet, besides the fact that wearing one is a state law for bicyclists younger than 16. To demonstrate the value of wearing a helmet, scouts dropped watermelons—some wearing helmets and some not—from a height, and taught proper helmet fitting. The girls also taught the basics of pre- and post-ride bicycle safety checks, and distributed pamphlets they wrote and illustrated themselves. Thanks to money they raised over the past few months, the scouts were able to properly fit and give away 85 helmets to many appreciative adults and children during the course of the two-day event.
Girl Scouts, from left: Maddy Hettich, Arpitha Hayes, Breanna McHugh, Alyssa Johnson, Anna Lee, Cassie Ostertag, Janet Sorrells, Kara Kennedy, Sarah Eldredge. Seated: Oona Aldrich, displaying the pamphlets the girls wrote and illustrated on bike safety.(Courtesy photo)
