Brian Slattery photo
“Thank you all for showing up,” said Joel Tolman, Common Ground High School’s director of impact and engagement, welcoming guests to the launch party on Wednesday evening for New Haven’s 2015 Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride, to be held on Apr. 25. “You are what this event is really about.”
This could sound like a platitude, but in the case of the Earth Day ride, it’s true. An all-volunteer effort — its main organizers meet once a month over chili — the Earth Day ride comes about from the work of over 25 organizations, with support from city and state government, to raise money for local environmental work and celebrate New Haven’s green spaces, the city itself, and its citizens.
As the Elligers Brothers breezed their way through a set of jazz standards, the assembled crowd in the auditorium in Sage Hall on Prospect Street — more like a big group of friends — said hello and tucked into the refreshments provided by Nica’s, Miya’s, and Caseus.
The fundraiser, now in its seventh year, took the form of a bike ride because “it’s a great way to see the whole city,” said Tolman.
Chris Schweitzer Photo
Solar Youth-ers at the 2013 ride.
The multiple routes, ranging from 8 to 62 miles, all start at Common Ground on Springside Avenue, in the shadow of West Rock, and end at East Rock Park. The 8‑mile family ride includes stops at New Haven’s parks for snacks and activities. At East Rock Park is a fair with vendors, music, and other entertainment, as in years past. (Click here and here to check out the last two years’ rides.)
All this happens thanks to the efforts of the organizations that pitch in and receive funds from participants’ pledges. It also happens because the city covers some of the costs, of hiring the police escort, for example. The parks department, itself an organizing partner, also donates work.
“The city has been hugely supportive,” Tolman said.
The five organizing partners split the revenues from registration. Riders then have the option of raising money through pledges to support the other participating organizations, ranging from CT Folk to Massaro Community Farm to New Haven Land Trust to Unidad Latina en Acción. In the first year, 300 riders raised about $10,000 overall. Last year, said Tolman, 1,100 riders registered, and 700 still showed up “in a cold, hard rain” to raise $150,000.
One of those who braved the weather last year was Rob Klee, who voiced his support for Rock to Rock as both state DEEP commissioner and participant. He noted the ways that the ride promotes DEEP’s own work in highlighting “where you can bike” in New Haven, showing that “for a small state, we really have a lot of opportunities to get outdoors,” and generally promoting the development of “multimodal transportation,” meaning pedestrian and bike ways as well as rail and road. He cited the No Child Left Inside program, the name of which drew an appreciative chuckle from the crowd.
“I’m going to be out there biking,” he concluded. In previous years he had biked the shorter Rock to Rock route with his children. Now that they’re a little older, “I’m looking forward to being in the adult ride this year,” he said.
Chris Schweitzer of the New Haven/León Sister City Project, Katie Blake from Audubon Connecticut, Gordon Geballe of the Yale School of Forestry, and Anna Ruth Pickett of the Urban Resources Initiative also got up to voice their support for the ride, with Pickett pointing out the bike on offer from The Devil’s Gear as a prize to the rider who raised the most funds.
Pickett commutes to work by bike, and her family chose to buy a cargo bike instead of a second car (“it’s like our minivan,” she said). She has been involved with Rock to Rock for five years and is moving up as a leader in the effort.
“I love the community,” she said. The ride is “good for partnerships between the organizations that last for the rest of the year.” Groups that connect by working together on the ride, she mentioned, have started to work together on other projects as well. “We have about 25 organizations involved,” she said, “and there’s never any animosity between them.”
Organized by Blake, kids made bird art, to be displayed at installations forthcoming in April and May.
And adults signed up for the ride.
The ride organizers hope to have 1,500 riders this year, raising $200,000. By the following afternoon of the launch party for the seventh annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride, over a hundred people had signed up, bringing in over $30,000 already.
In its seven-year history, Tolman noted, the Rock to Rock Ride has raised over half a million dollars. Not bad for an event fueled by enthusiasm, goodwill, cooperation — and chili once a month.
