Dan's Papers - July 18, 2008 - Two North Fork Kids Win Bikes After Essay Contest

A deprived child? Not on your life. Summers I had ice cream at least once a week (usually a cone with sprinkles), my father kept me supplied with Nancy Drew mysteries, and I always had a pair of roller skates. But alas, I never had a bicycle.

My children were teenagers before their mother got her first bike. With all the trimmings like a basket and a ding-a-ling bell. I've had a couple of bicycles since then and leisurely rides out Orient-way are way up there on my list of favorite things to do.

That's why I want to tell you about two very special bikes. Bikes given by Southold Mothers' Club to two youngsters who submitted the most persuasive handwritten essays explaining why a new bicycle would be so exciting, so important in their lives.

Actually, Southold Mothers' Club has awarded bicycles (provided by Bike Stop of Greenport) for several years now, according to one of the club's events coordinators, Marybeth Kavajian of Riverhead. This year's winners, recently announced, are Adrianna Chandler and Leif Wood.

Young Adrianna will bike out near her home in East Marion. Seven-year-old Leif is from Southold and he wrote that his bike is way too small for a big guy and he could never save enough for a new bike because his allowance is so tiny.

Now that Adrianna and Leif have fine new bikes, I'm sure they'll want some biking companions. There are lots of bicyclists on the North Fork so Adrianna and Leif should have pals-on-wheels in short order.

I bet they'd like to ride with young sisters Olivia and Julia Saccanano who are real bicycling enthusiasts. The girls live in Southold and, with their father, they love to ride out to Greenport. Destination: carousel

I met Olivia and Julia in a Southold shop. They were looking to buy a couple of backpacks. (Dad was going to pay.) The youngsters said they bring along some water, and a lightweight jacket on their bike rides. They failed to mention a snack. Maybe Dad supplies an ice cream treat once they reach Greenport.

Back to the carousel. It seems like the perfect destination for the Saccanano family. After pedaling straight out east to Greenport, it must be great to rest for a spell and just go round and round in circles.

This next young man would be a fine biking friend. He's interested in lots of stuff and even gets along with his sister. Matter of fact, he was buying two tennis rackets in a Southold thrift shop when I talked with him. He plays tennis with his sister in Jean Cochran Park in Peconic.

Kevin McGough, a Southold sixth-grader, also plays baseball and soccer. But it's bicycling we're talking now and Kevin said he mostly bikes after school but there are times when he's out before breakfast, biking away. I was impressed when Kevin told me when he bikes he often carries not a snack, but a book, in his backpack. He pedals back and forth to Southold Free Library in search of reading adventures. What a guy!

How about biking with Riverhead's Ray Hubbard? Ray has more than one bicycle and I guess he needs them, judging by all the pedaling he does.

Where to start? Well, years ago Ray left the North Fork for a six-year spell in Arizona. He rode thousands of miles out there. "All corners of the state," said Ray.

Each summer, Ray plans a special event for his family and friends. They leave Ray's

home and bike to Our Lady of the Isle in Eastport. Returning to Riverhead late in the day, the bike friends have a great big cookout at Ray's place.

And just because he's a good guy, Ray brings home any old discarded bikes he sees, fixes them up almost as good as new, then gives them away to needy children.

So congratulations, Adrianna and Leif. Enjoy your new bikes and new friends.

P.S. Thought you'd like to know this about Marybeth Kavajian. She's certainly a dedicated mother and a hardworking member of Southold Mothers' Club. But she's a little unconventional, too. Delightfully so. She's lead singer in a rock band, The Contractors, performing all over the East End. How's that for a typical North Fork mom?