A blessing on two wheels

To many people, bicycles are kids' toys, playthings to be adorned with horns, stickers and other emblems of childhood.

But the bicycles a Lake Zurich Boy Scout troop will give away this weekend are much more than that.

For some recipients, the bikes could be the best Christmas presents they receive this year.

For others, they'll provide much-needed transportation to work or other destinations.

"It's really heartwarming to see smiles on people's faces (who otherwise) might not have gotten a bike," said Linda Racicot, secretary for Troop 309 at St. Francis de Sales Church.

The Scouts rehabbed about 60 bikes this year as part of the annual project. Donations started coming in the fall and the boys worked on weekends to get the bikes into shape.

Some just needed a tire, Racicot said. Others were in more dire shape and were stripped for parts.

"Nothing goes to waste," Racicot said.

The Boy Scout troop actually inherited the program a few years ago from a parishioner who had run it independently, but stopped when he moved, Racicot said.

"The program would've fallen apart if we didn't take it over," she said.

The troop's Scouts range in age from 11 to 17 and some of the younger ones aren't proficient in bicycle mechanics, Racicot said. Instead, they clean the bikes when the repairs are done.

"Every bike goes out clean," she said. "These bikes are good looking."

St. Francis' the Rev. David Ryan on Tuesday night was slated to bless the bikes before they were moved from the parish's old church -- where they were assembled -- to the nearby ministry center.

Recipients, coming from parishes throughout the Chicago area, will gather at St. Francis on Sunday to receive their bikes.

Ryan knows the boys' hard work will be appreciated.

"It's all said in the faces, when you see the smiles," he said. "(You see) young people who haven't had a bike in a while, or who never had a bike."