More Than 100 Riders Pedal for Pollinators
What a ride! Our inaugural Pedal for Pollinators created quite the buzz.
More than 100 cyclists joined The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund (BBHF) on August 8 for a beautiful day of biking, community and, of course, pollinators. Together, our riders, sponsors, auction donors and friends helped raise more than $10,000 to support high-quality habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Held in Holdingford, Minnesota, along the Lake Wobegon Trail, the event was hosted by Art in Motion and Greg and Cindi Konsor at the BoHo Cafe. Riders chose their own adventure: 21 miles to Albany, 32 miles to Avon or 56 miles to St. Joseph.
The morning started the best way possible, with coffee, caramel rolls and plenty of time to socialize, pump up tires and get ready to ride. With sunshine, temperatures in the 70s and the starting line surrounded by BBHF's signature NextGen habitat, there was literally a lot of buzz in the air.
Every participant received a Pedal for Pollinators T-shirt and a goody bag filled with a few fun extras, including bug spray from Lemongrass Farms/Encore Brands, a Project Hive Pet Company coupon, a packet of BBHF pollinator seeds and more. After the ride, plenty of cycling jerseys were swapped for Pedal for Pollinators T-shirts as everyone settled in for the post-ride festivities. We also had custom BBHF cycling jerseys for sale, and a limited number are still available at the BoHo Cafe.
We loved seeing so many friends of pollinators out on the trail. The Silver Spokes bike club showed up with about 14 riders, and we were honored to have world-renowned honey bee researcher Dr. Marla Spivak, retired from the University of Minnesota, riding alongside other friends from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab.
Lissie and Jim Schiffman, founders of our presenting sponsor Project Hive Pet Company, didn't just support the event — they hopped on their bikes and rode with us, too.
A Silent Auction with Plenty to Bid On
More than 30 donated items helped our silent auction raise nearly $2,000, and our donors made it quite the collection.
Auction highlights included a butterfly house from Bird Haven; an original encaustic painting by George Hansen; travel bags from HiLove! Travel; a fishing trip donated by Minnesota Bound's Bill Sherck; a Love Your Dog bundle from Project Hive Pet Company; a Gemperle Orchards basket featuring Jennie Durant's book Bitter Honey; a basket of bee favorites from Mann Lake; reusable bee and butterfly straws from drinkingstraws.glass; jewelry from Luisa Goodrum of Custom Creations; and auction goodies from Hive Hugger, the University of Minnesota Bee Lab and Beez Kneez.
Our hosts at the BoHo Cafe added bike jerseys, a cookie basket and a gift card to the auction, while Pantown Brewing Company donated beer and a very cool LED sign.
And those are just some of the many items generously donated to help make our first auction such a success. Thank you to everyone who donated and everyone who bid!
Pollinatorpalooza
Once the riders rolled back in, Pollinatorpalooza got underway.
The post-ride celebration was open to everyone and brought riders, friends and community members together at the BoHo Cafe for wood-fired pizza, cold beer from Pantown Brewing Company, including the appropriately named Pollinator and Honey Radler brews, and live music.
Local duo Groovy Shoes provided the perfect post-ride soundtrack and, yes, they absolutely lived up to their name with some pretty groovy shoes of their own.
Bess and Brad from The Strawberry Basket were there on behalf of the Minnesota Beekeepers Association, chatting with attendees about beekeeping and the importance of honey.
Arlyn Lawrenz, a Board Member of the Stearns County Soil & Water Conservation District, also joined us to talk about BBHF's partnership with the District, ways people can get involved, and some of the pollinator habitat work happening throughout the area.
More Than 100 Riders. More Than $10,000 Raised.
Most of all, Pedal for Pollinators happened because people showed up.
They rode. They volunteered. They donated. They bid. They sponsored. They ate pizza. They raised a glass. They enjoyed some great tunes. They talked about pollinators.
And they helped turn a first-time event into something pretty special while supporting BBHF's work to establish high-quality habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
A huge thank you to our presenting sponsor, Project Hive Pet Company, and to Blattner, Conservation Blueprint and Xcel Energy for investing in Pedal for Pollinators and the habitat work it supports.
And after a first ride like this, you can bet we're already thinking about the next one.
If your company or organization would like to join us as a Pedal for Pollinators sponsor or partner next year, we'd love to hear from you. This first ride showed us just how much potential there is to grow the miles, the community and the impact.
And to every rider who clipped in, hopped on a bike and pedaled for pollinators: thank you.
For our first Pedal for Pollinators, we couldn't have asked for a better ride or a better community to celebrate with.
Here's to many more miles, more habitat and more buzz ahead!
All photos courtesy of Elizabeth Brumley.
