Kiwanis sponsors bike rodeo at Tuscarora School

by Larry Austin
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 17, 2006

Kyler Kilgour of Tuscarora Elementary School negotiates a bicycle rodeo course Wednesday on the school playground. The rodeo was sponsored by the Lewiston Kiwanis Club and the school’s K-Kids. (photo by Larry Austin)

A rodeo Wednesday at Tuscarora Indian School provided students with lesson on bicycle safety.

The Lewiston Kiwanis Club sponsored the bike rodeo, with members of the school’s K-Kids group helping to officiate on the rodeo course. The rodeo included obstacle courses to test the bike rider’s ability to handle a bike.

Paul Beatty, the computer technology instructor at the school, said he received donations of 10 new bikes from local businesses and smoke shops, which were awarded to students at an assembly on Friday.

“This reinforces the bicycle skills,” said Grace Destino, a Niagara County traffic safety educator, of the rodeo. The course tested the bicycle rider’s control of the bike, balance, and coordination, she said. “They’re doing a real good job.”

Destino also inspected the tire pressure and brakes on the students’ bikes and came to the rodeo prepared to provide more than 30 helmets to children.

“That’s the biggest issue with this,” Destino said of bike helmet use, noting that typical older kids disdain the helmets despite the danger of head injury from a fall. “It’s tough to get them to wear them. But usually, if they start at this age, it becomes a habit.”