Holiday greetings from everyone at Bike Walk Mississippi!
You'll see from this packed Newsletter that we've had alot going on - and I
urge you to take an extra couple of minutes to check out the updates on
Bike Walk Mississippi.
Make sure to check out the new Calendar, Membership and Donation links.
Happy Holidays!
Karen Mogridge,
Executive Director
|
|
Executive Director Appointed
N
ew Executive Director, Karen Mogridge joins BWM with a passion to help make Mississippi a more bike/pedestrian-friendly state and unite cyclists in a statewide network to push for
bike/pedestrian-friendly legislation at the state, regional and local levels. Mogridge will work to expand the membership of BWM, while uniting the current network of organized,informed and supported advocates throughout Mississippi. This network will provide grass-roots support for the BWM’s state legislative agenda.
Mississippi was recently ranked in the bottom five of the Bicycle Friendly States of America by the League of American Bicyclists. An immediate goal of the BWM advocacy program, Mogridge explained, will be to move Mississippi up in the list at least by 5 more states. “By bringing cyclists across the state together and increasing
education and encouragement in an organized advocacy effort, I am certain we can achieve that goal,” says Mogridge.
|
|
|
Bicycle Friendly Community Workshops
B
ike Walk Mississippi and the League of American Bicyclists are co-hosting Bicycle Friendly Community Workshops throughout Mississippi over the holidays. The workshops will be led by Jeff Peel, who is a Program Specialist with the League and happens to be from Tupelo.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
Hernando: Monday, December 15 @ 5:30PM - Gale Community Center.
Starkville: Tuesday, December 16 @ 2PM - City Hall.
Natchez: Wednesday, December 17 @ 9AM -Council Chambers.
Hattiesburg: Thursday, December 18 @ 10AM - Long Leaf Trace.
Jackson: Monday, December 29 @ 5PM - Indian Cycles.
If you are interested, please show your support and be there. Also donate online so we can make sure to have these programs in the future.
|
|
Your Mississippi Network
H
ave you ever wondered just what is happening in Mississippi?
Just how did Oxford finish their BFC application or what events are going on?
We have just added a calendar feature to our
website to allow you to search for events and submit your events.
Curious about where Bike clubs are and how to get in touch with them, what they were doing,
if they had a website, etc? Quite a few of you have emailed us asking these questions and more.
We are working hard to put together a Bike Club Network that will allow you to see the list of all
Missisiippi Bike Clubs and their club sites and contacts. For more information or to send your bike club information,
please contact Karen Mogridge
|
|
Share the Road Tag
O
ur Share the Road tags are here!
To get your fancy car tag, head to your local tag office now or wait until your current tag expires.
The tag cost is $31 dollars, above the regular cost of your tag; $24 dollars of that fee goes directly to Bike Walk Mississippi.
Let’s get these car tags on the road!
Programs throughout BWM will be funded by sales of Mississippi's "Share the Road" license plate.
|
|
Safe Routes to School
T
he Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program enables and encourages children, to walk and bicycle to school safely. Forty years ago, roughly half of all children walked/bicycled to school. Today, 85% of our children are driven to school (by bus or private vehicle). And in MS, 4 out of 10 of our children are at-risk of becoming overweight or are overweight.
The goal of Mississippi’s SRTS program is to empower Mississippi communities in developing and implementing programs that make walking and bicycling to school a safe and healthy alternative to being driven by bus or motor vehicle. Through available federal funds, communities can stage a wide variety of projects and activities from building safer street crossings to
establishing programs that encourage and educate children and their parents to safely walk and bicycle to school. For more information check out :
Mississippi SRTS Web Site.
|
Upcoming Cycling Legislation
I
f you’ve looked at our state legislation concerning bicycling and walking, you’ve noticed that it’s a bit
out-dated. A huge thanks goes to a handful of people who are working with our representatives to update our
legislation to make our roads safer for cyclists.
"January will be time for full court press, I expect the things we are asking for will get passed since we started on this in January (2008)."
said Rich Adair, President, Jackson Metro Cyclists, who has been working with others since January. Contact your local representative and let them know
you are in support of this action.
We hope to have some details posted on our website in early January concerning the proposed legislation Rich is working on. The main focus will be a 3 ft Rule.
|
|
Website Updates
W
hen is the last time you visited our site: www.bikewalkmississippi.org? Take a few minutes to browse the site and see the new updates and new stories from across the state.
We will be making many more updates over the coming months so make sure to check back often.
New updates - live now:
1) Calendar feature allows you to browse statewide events - you can even submit YOUR events!
2) Ability to download membership form and mail back your membership to support BWM!
3) Ability to donate to BWM online!
4) New BWM logo!
5) You can now sign up for this fantastic newsletter online!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bike League
Summit 2009:
Go for Green
Join the League for our biggest Summit yet! Be a part of the smart transportation movement and help build bicycling into the transportation bill this March 10-12. Join fellow advocates, industry leaders, and retailers as we speak to the new Congress and Administration. Click here for further information. Register Today!
|
|
Bike Walk Calendar
Make sure to bookmark our calendar and to send us your events.
Clubs and Advocacy groups - please send your information in. Let's use this as a central resource for the state.
Let us know what we can do to better serve you as an organization. We are here to bring you safer roads, more education and a sense of community for cyclists and pedestrians alike. Over the next few months, we hope to bring a few changes that will inspire you guys - so as you get inspired - send those inspirations our way!
Bike Walk Mississippi
Karen Mogridge
Executive Director
karenmogridge@gmail.com
|
|
