Bikes, bikes, bikes and bike riders – many of the international workers who fuel our tourist economy – can be seen all around town every summer riding a bike.  Where do the bikes come from?  Most of the red-wheeled bikes are part of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club Bike Project, and have been part of our summer scene for almost two decades.. 

Way back in 2006, Seth Hedgcock, a member of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club,  noticed a young man walking to his job every day. Seth offered him a ride and discovered he was here for the summer on a International Summer Work Visa. International workers are critical to the Boothbay Region as they fill many of the seasonal jobs at the hotels, shops and restaurants.  It was during this car trip that Seth got the idea of the Rotary Club Bike Project. A project that would support our local businesses by providing transportation for our summer workers, both local and International. And the people who use the bikes are not just foreign citizens:   My own daughter used a Rotary bike one summer while she was saving money to buy herself a car.   

When Seth presented this project to the Rotary Club in 2006, the idea was enthusiastically received and money was allocated to purchase and repair as many used bikes as possible. In the beginning, we put out a call for gently used bikes and many that had been ridden by now-adult grandchildren came out of garages and sheds and Seth and a group of dedicated Rotarians tightened chains, put air in the tires, and watched the program grow from about around 25 bikes a year to over 100 bikes on the road. And so in 2016 the Rotary Club purchased 115 new bikes, all three-speed, with push- pedal brakes and uniform parts to make maintenance easier. But with the growth in the program, we needed a place to store the bikes off season.  Thus in 2019, our amazing Rotary Club construction crew added a dedicated bike shed to the Big Grey Barn on Montgomery Road. The bike program was here to stay. 

All that was just in time for the pandemic! In 2020, fewer than ten bikes were loaned out. The number grew to 30 bikes in 2021 – augmented by some of the crew that came from Denmark to construct the trolls at the Botanical Gardens. For the last several years, the club is back to the previous normal of loaning around 100 bikes every year to our summer workers. 

The red wheels on the bikes go round and round because of the ingenuity and dedication of the Rotary Club Bike Program mechanics: Bill Prince, Rick Mitterling, John Skoglund, Robin Reed, and Jim Herbold augmented by Rotary friend Steven Johnson and many other Rotary members past and present. 

Bikes can be picked up or dropped off at the Rotary Club Bike Shed at 66 Montgomery Avenue on Saturdays between 8:30 to 11:00 am or Thursdays from 5:00 to 6:00 pm till mid-October.  A $100 security deposit is required at pickup, but that money is returned at the end of the season when the bike is returned and in reasonably good condition.  We also offer bike helmets, running lights and bike locks to all riders at no cost. 

The Rotary Club Bike Program is one of many projects made possible because of your generous donations of gently used household goods that are sold every Saturday morning from April to December 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the Big Grey Rotary Barn. We currently need small household goods, lamps, dishes, pots, rugs,towels and art. Just email rotarybarnpickup@gmail.com for pickup or drop off plans. 

The Rotary Club meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. at our Clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Road, Boothbay Harbor for congeniality, dinner, and a speaker or other special program. Join us, and learn about all we do. You’ll be glad you came.