April activities and May machinations at the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen

[Ryan Sharpe]

Hello again, volunteers and prospective volunteers!  We've got a busy month or two coming up, so if you've got some time and an inclination to help, get a hold of us.  Contact details are at the bottom of this e-mail.

With the wintry weather and school schedules, we've been slowly losing regular shift volunteers.  With business picking up, we desperately need some mechanics and clerks to fill in the empty slots in our shift calendar, especially the Saturday shift.  We're not looking for a weekly commitment, but it helps us smooth out the schedule if you can let us know in advance when you want to volunteer.

While we don't really need volunteers for our April 10 Bike Swap with the Friends of Fremont Park, feel free to take a seat at our booth for a minute if you're around, so your fellow volunteers can go pick through the parts.

After the Bike Swap and our Second Saturday party, the shop is pretty dirty and disorganized.  We can always use a hand, whether it's separating V brake levers from cantilever or even just mopping the floor, so come on down for Cleanup Day on April 11.

Sometime in April (we hope to announce just when soon), we're going to be reorganizing the shop, building a nice little enclosed area for the clerks, putting together a more reasonable storage area for bikes, moving the truing stands to their own area, and moving the tool cabinets and card catalogs around.  We'll be closing down the shop for a week to get this all done, but you can still lend a hand setting the new system up (and get a sneak preview of the new layout).  A lot of carpenters and contracts have asked if we needed any work of that sort done, and this might be the chance; give Scott a buzz (below) if you want to use a claw hammer on something other than a bent derailleur.

Around this time of year, a young bicycling co-op's thoughts turn to Earth Day.  We're keeping a low profile this year, but we're still going to be setting up a booth and the mobile fixery at the city of Sacramento's Earth Day extravaganza on April 22.  We've only got one volunteer signed up for simple tabling and fixing, so we could use one or two more.

Speaking of the mobile fixery, it's also heading down to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op on May 1 for their May is Bike Month kickoff.  If you want to distribute pro-SBK propaganda and help fix flat tires, this will be the place to be!

Finally, we'll be putting on our Hunt the Grid scavenger hunt again this year for Second Saturday in May, and we'll need help planning the event and getting it staffed.  Helping out means that you won't be able to participate in the hunt, but given how sweaty and out-of-breath some of last year's teams were, that might not be so bad.  And you'll be first in line for the Second Saturday party, so...

If you think you've got what it takes to help out, drop us a line.  We'll try to find a way to put your skills to use!

--Ryan S.


Volunteer opportunity details

Regular shift volunteers

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, 1915 I Street
E-mail Emjay and Ryan S. at volu...@sacbikekitchen.org

Bike Swap

Fremont Park, 16th and P Streets
Saturday, April 10, 9 AM to 3 PM
Just show up!

Cleanup Day

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, 1915 I Street
Sunday, April 11, 10 AM to 2 PM
Just show up!

Shop reorganization

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, 1915 I Street
Some week in April
E-mail Scott at sc...@sacbikekitchen.org

Earth Day

Cesar Chavez Plaza, 10th and I Streets
Thursday, April 22, 9 AM to 2 PM
E-mail Ryan S. at sha...@sacbikekitchen.org

May is Bike Month

Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op, 1900 Alhambra Blvd
Saturday, May 1, 12 PM to 3 PM
E-mail Emjay and Ryan S. at volu...@sacbikekitchen.org

Hunt the Grid

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, 1915 I Street
Saturday, May 8, time to be determined
For planning or E-mail Emjay at em...@sacbikekitchen.org

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Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen
http://sacbikekitchen.org/
1915 I Street, Midtown Sacramento
Open Tu 6-9p, We 6-9p, Th 6-9p, Fr 10a-2p (kids 6-8p), Sa 12-4p