Rolling along
Rotary Club returns Kids Bike Parade to July 4th event
A long-time favorite attraction will return to the streets of Northville this year when the Kids’ Bike Parade pedals down Main Street during the annual Fourth of July Parade.
The return of the bike parade is being organized and sponsored by the members of the Northville Rotary Club. One of the organizers, Lindsey Casterline, said the bike parade is a nostalgic event for many residents who actually rode their patriotically decorated bikes in the parade as children. When she suggested the return of the young riders, her fellow Rotary Club members agreed and the members of Rotary Service Committee including Casterline, Traci Sincock, Carol Schrauben and Jennifer Walker went to work organizing the bikers for the parade July 4.
Casterline said the Rotary Club entered a float in the parade last year, but she, and others, missed seeing the children on their creatively decorated bikes. This year, Casterline’s 11-year-old daughter, Lucy, will be among the kids displaying their creative decorating ideas. Casterline said the bike decoration plans were still being formulated but that it will be Lucy who designs her entry.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Casterline, a 12-year member of the Rotary Club said.
“There is a preregistration for the bike parade required,” Casterline said, “but the riders can do it the day of the parade.” There will soon be a form on the Northville Chamber of Commerce website where riders can register. The form includes a safety waiver, Casterline said. Riders should be no older than 18 but parents are welcome to accompany their children along the route. “This is a family event,” Casterline said. The only requirement to participate is a decorated wheeled vehicle and a bike safety helmet. Casterline also suggests bringing plenty of water as in past years, temperatures on parade day “have been pretty warm.”
In past years, the bike parade had been a competition with the best girls’ and best boys’ entry awarded a prize. This year, Casterline said, they are concentrating on fun and family participation. “The more decorations, the better,” she added.
The bikers will gather at Cady and Griswold to line up for the parade and will be among the entries in the first half of the event, which is a benefit for the young riders, Griswold added.
The Northville Rotary Club, organized in 1926, has about 55 members of the international organization, which is the world’s oldest and largest non-political, non-sectarian service club.
Since 2016, the Northville Rotary Foundation, Rotary Club of Northville, and its members and supporters have donated over $235,000 in grant awards and scholarships, in addition to the contribution of countless hours of service to worthwhile endeavors supporting children, individuals, families and community organizations in Northville, the metro-Detroit community, and global humanitarian projects.
