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Batavia taking steps to make traveling safer for cyclists

With warmer weather creeping into our lives, the zombies of winter (and that’s most of us) will be moving around again — in cars, on foot and on bikes. Anything that makes the roads safer for all of that activity is a good thing.

Batavia city officials had a good idea when they appointed a seven-person city bicycle commission about a year ago.

It has a fairly straightforward goal to make Batavia and the surrounding area a safer and better place to bike. That can include adding signs to better mark trails, placing striping on the streets for bike lanes, and offering bike rodeos to teach bike safety to kids.

The newest endeavor by the Batavia Bicycle Commission and its many sponsors is “Light Your Ride” from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at the Water Street Studios, 160 S. Water St.

All ages are welcome to stop by with their bikes and volunteers will be on hand to supply reflective tape and stickers to increase safety when riding at night. Repair tips and safe night-riding advice also will be offered.

“We’re not promoting night riding; we’re promoting safer riding,” said commission member Joanne Spitz. “The reflectors are also good for daytime riding.”

Spitz said the commission is trying to secure grants for safer bike routes to schools and safer crossings on Rte. 31 in Batavia, while also developing new maps for bike trails that go into Geneva and North Aurora.

More information about the event, which is being organized by Dawn Tutt, is available at dmtutt@comcast.net.

Lame idea for Lent?

My wife calls it “ridiculous.” My son calls it “lame.” A friend asks, “Why are you doing that way?”

My answer is: To put a new twist on my Lenten sacrifice, thus stirring more willpower.

In an acknowledgment of our modern times, with several technology “platforms” or social network tiers for communication, I have implemented a “layered” approach to what I have given up for Lent.

Yes, my previous well-documented sacrifice of not eating cookies for the 40 days of Lent represented a serious challenge. But this year’s setup takes much more into account.

My Lenten slate looks like this: I can eat one cookie a day, but must try to do without any. I can have only one can of soda a week, but must try do without any. And I can eat a handful of Dots candy (my other serious addiction) once a week, but must try to do without any.

To me, this represents a far greater challenge. Consider this: I eat about 10 cookies a day on average. I drink at least one can of pop a day. And I eat a box of Dots in about two days.

Yes, it sounds like a third-grade kid gliding through life clueless and ruining his teeth, but I figure they are better addictions than gambling, smoking or drinking.

Lame and ridiculous? I think not. I view it more as an ingenious new method that should be embraced by others.

Dinners remain popular

The lure of corn beef and cabbage at last week’s free community dinner at Geneva United Methodist Church turned out to be the biggest draw yet for this popular monthly event.

Beth Kucera, who helps organize and publicize the dinners, informed me that they ran out of food for the first time ever — and it happened at 6:40 p.m.

So those who were hoping for an Irish meal to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day ended up getting Italian food if they got there later, as spaghetti was cooked to feed the rest of the crowd.

Kucera also said continued stories of job layoffs and hard times means the church will offer the meals for “quite some time.”

Daring journalist reborn

Journalists have done a lot of risky things in the past 100-plus years to bring stories to the American public.

If you want to hear the story about one who took things to an extraordinary level, go to a presentation at 2 p.m. today at the Eastside Community Center in Batavia to learn about Nellie Bly.

I’ve seen this re-enactment by Lynn Rymarz of Schaumburg and it is a fascinating look into the life of a legendary female reporter from the late 1800s. Bly was best known for acting insane in order to get herself committed into a particularly brutal asylum for women in order to expose wrongdoings, and also for being able to travel around the world in less than 70 days.

Cost is $7 per person for the presentation, hosted by the Batavia Depot Museum and Batavia Park District as part of Women’s History Month.

Burgers raise bucks

Two local education foundations are benefiting from the fact that area residents like their gourmet burgers.

Tom & Eddie’s restaurant in the Geneva Commons will split $4,000 it raised between the Geneva Academic Foundation and the Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence.

The money was raised during a nine-day grand opening celebration for the restaurant.

Owners Ed Rensi and Tom Dentice have expressed a commitment to giving back to the communities the restaurant serves, and this was a good start.

Legs survive forum

So what was my impression of the candidates’ forum I moderated last week for the Geneva tax FACTS (For Accountable and Controlled Tax Spending) group? First, the candidates running for school, city and parks in contested races this year are as solid a group as I have seen in the many years I have observed local races. It is amazing how many quality people come to the forefront when we face our toughest challenges.

Second, I learned that standing in one spot for 3½ hours, as I did for this event, is harder on your legs than walking for that same amount of time. So, next time, I have to remember to at least move around a little bit.

dheun@sbcglobal.net