Seems like it was yesterday, Bob and Kris Thompson, Jean and I were having lunch on a sunny afternoon at a League of American Bicyclist meeting in Olympia, Washington. That was nearly thirty years ago -- my friendship with Bob grew with more respect and admiration each passing year. In ...
During our last visit to Dalian, China, a child, no older than 5, came up and hugged Jean, asking for money. We knew not to give children money or sweets because the apparent kind act may create beggars of them. Furthermore, parents then will send their children to beg rather ...
On this bright December Saturday morning, more than forty ACTC members, led by Jim Schallau, volunteered at the Turning Wheels for Kids (TWFK)Â Big Bike Build to assemble over 2500 new bicycles to be given free to underprivileged children. Jim and Marjorie Schallau, Past-President Herman Wadler, and I have been helping ...
Make your voice heard by voting. It always amazed me that a great percentage never bothered to vote. Many failed to appreciate how fortunate we are to live in this democracy, having not seen how people in other countries struggle, with not enough food, no education, no future, and no ...
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.†Albert Einstein
On this, the 15th Anniversary-Remembrance of 9/11, a helpful way for me to move forward is to listen to meaningful music. A favorite is the Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an international network of concerts ...
Having grown up in Vietnam during the 60's, I remembered the poverty of the Vietnamese populace and the sheer war-horror. On Memorial Day, my two treasured remembrances are to read "In Flanders Fields" and the Four Chaplains.
In Flanders fields
By Canadian physician John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, ...
Imagine we are astronauts on a spaceship with a finite amount of supplies and space, one would not wastefully and carelessly use everything up. We all are -- this spaceship Earth.
Like it or not, our daily choice of driving, walking, cycling, and a host of everything else, has a profound ...
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision" — Helen Keller
The future of ACTC rests in part on our ability to motivate children to become life-long cyclists. In the last decade, we proudly supported children-programs such as Turning Wheels for Kids, Kidical Mass, and Aztec ...
Although we don't wear our philanthropy actions on our sleeves, ACTC is a not-for-profit organization so we strive to have a zero-sum annual budget by donating a steady and predictable amount to bicycling-related organizations. ACTC is run by volunteers so all the proceeds from members' dues, Tierra Bella, and Sierra ...
"Simple Gifts", a Shaker song by Joseph Brackett celebrates a sentiment that is as applicable today as when it was written in 1848.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the ...