We began to arrive at St. Bridget little by little. Our designated departure time was 8:00. We were all to arrive between 7:00 and 7:30 to pack support vehicles and get our bikes all set. Some of us rode our bikes to St. Bridget, some drove their cars with their bikes on their racks. As it got closer to 8:00 we realized we were not going to leave at that time as Jeanette forgot her helmet and bike shoes. Her sister was rushing them over. While we waited, we gathered around for our usual send-off prayer. Lou had one ready but Mike had read a prayer that morning and thought it was so appropriate he asked if we could use that prayer and asked his Dad, Jim, to read it. Th prayer was perfect for what we were about to begin again this year. So good that rob suggested we put it on the website.
We left St. Bridget around 8:15. Jeanette's sister made good time getting to St B's. Everyone was excited and eager to get going. We were on our way. As we ventured to Foodshare in Bloomfield we had a coupe of spills, John Ryan and Mark, a couple of flat tires, but in all it was a pleasant ride. We actually arrived at Foodshare earlier than expected. after fixing Mark's flat tire, we got an overview by Sarah Santora about the 21% increase in what foodshare has had to put out since last year. They now deliver 15 tons of food a day as compared to only 12 tons last year. One of the most remarkable statistics we heard was that West Hartford, Avon, and Simsbury has a 75% increase in services over last year. It was evident what the economy has done to these services.
Foodshare provided the BTC team with granola bars, water, gatorade and most importunately, restrooms. By the way, they have entirely "green" bathrooms. Our discussion, while brief was to the point and we all learned a bit more.
We left by 11:30 and headed to Avon. We had planned to again stop at Gifts of Love. Gifts of Love is a Food Pantry of sorts. They cater to people who are working but are going through a bad time.
They are working but incapable of making ends meet. Someone may have just lost their job, or more importantly, lost their home. Gifts too have had a significant increase in services, up 43%.
As we again rode Talcott mountain, it seemed this year it was not as difficult. We actually got to Gifts of Love a lot earlier than planned. And, it wasn't raining like last year.
We received a nice talk form Chris and Diana. They provided us with the new information we were looking for. They provide services for 300 families a month. they also are doing some great things for kids with their backpack program. It was nice touching base with then again this year.
We then rode just down the Rt. 44 to the Ski Market & Bike shop and met with David Neuman. he had heard about BTC form hearing bob King on the WTIC radio broadcast last year and called Bob and mentioned that since we were coming through Avon he would service any riders bike if they wanted then checked out. Last year he worked on four bikes. He extended his offer again this year and he actually worked on 9 bikes. He is a great guy. we could not believe how generous he was. We again bid him farewell and thanked him for his kindness.
We also ate our Subway lunch right there at the bike shop. We were stuffed after word.
Once lunch was completed we headed for Canaan. The ride there was a bit difficult but everyone hung in. The hills strung the group out quite a bit. Enough so that Rob and Lou pasted Immaculate conception parish and had to bike back uphill to get there. In time they got back to where they should have been. Ultimately Rob and Lou rode close to an extra 12 miles that day.
When we were ALL at Immaculate, Fr. Jeffries assigned us our rooms and where we would be staying. Pam also met us there at Immaculate. Good to see her there. We went to our respective host homes and showered up. We then proceded to a parishioner's home that was serving us all dinner at their house. Everyone ate well and enjoyed the company.
Still cannot believe how trusting and kind these folks were. It still amazes us.
We had a quick pot luck going and all went well.
The presentation went over smooth. Fr. Jeffries asked many meaningful guestions.
We are grateful for the kindness felt by all.
We have a lot to be thankful for.
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