Every year we select and honor a local business for their commitment to people biking. This year we honored our friends and partners at FabNewport for “incorporating biking into the very fiber of its existence and into the every day lives of kids from all over Aquidneck Island and beyond.
Bari Freeman, Bike Newport’s Executive Director, presented the award to Chris Gross, FabNewport’s Director of Ecosystem Impact.
“This year’s recipient understands that bikes are a predictable, dependable, affordable, and fun mode of transportation.
This year’s recipient understands that our youth are the source of important and often overlooked experiences and perspectives that provide answers to our most challenging questions – with inspiration and innovation often missed because we – the adults – might not be asking the right questions – or listening to the answers.
This year’s recipient works with Bike Newport to ensure that everyone who wants a bicycle has a bicycle, and that everyone who rides – or walks or drives – understands the basics of being on the road together.
This year’s recipient helps to build biking into the every day lives of kids from all over Aquideneck Island and beyond.
For over a decade, we have worked, planned, played, and gotten real serious together.
We are very happy to present this year’s Bicycle Friendly Business of the Year Award to Fab Newport”.
Accepting the award, Chris Gross shared:
“The confidence that it gives a young person to learn how to ride a bike and get from point A to point B without asking anyone for a ride is so important. It really has been since the beginning and that’s so beautiful. In 2013 we got 10 kids on bikes and biked around all summer and that really has led to beautiful things. We are really glad to be in partnership with Bike Newport, and let’s keep going!” Watch the video of Chris’s comments below.
Steve Heath, Fab Newport’s Founder and Executive Director was unable to attend the event and shared his remembrance by email:
“Thank you for awarding us the bike friendly business of the year. Very cool. I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and remembering how we started summer camp with a rag tag group of seven with nothing but some used bikes. Those were the days.“
CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS to our friends and partners at FabNewport – keep up the great work!
Previous recipients of the Bike Friendly Business of the Year award include Jane Pickens Theater (2013), Preservation Society of Newport County (2014), Newport County YMCA (2015), Butch Murray and the Fastnet Pub (2016), Panera Bread of Newport (2017), Leo’s Market and Discover Newport (2018) Parlour Bar & Kitchen, Empire Tea and Coffee (2019), and Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling (2023).
ABOUT THE AWARD
The award is a transformed bike wheel crafted by renowned sculptors and Newport residents Howard and Mary Newman. As avid cyclists and advocates, the Newmans generously lend their artistic talents each year to create this special recognition of bike friendliness. Many know Howard as the sculptor of the bronze horse trough in Washington Square and the two bronzes on the grounds of the Newport Art Museum. In the early 1990s, Howard’s artwork became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC. Many thanks to Howard and Mary for so generously sharing their support and talent!
Shared 2 Weeks of Summer Camp 2024
Bike Newport