Over the last several years, a mainstay of our city bicycle culture has been the Blue Bicycle workshop. This location and the activities that occur within its doors gave birth to Green Options Buffalo and the work established to make buffalo more bicycle friendly.
Knowing that it would be more difficult to get the city to install bicycle lanes and racks along our streets – although we are beginning to make some headway, the individual choices we all make can be made easier by providing the community an opportunity to build their own bicycle from used parts providing hands on experience with bicycle repair and maintenance. At the workshop everybody winds up learning and teaching while all our bicycles get taken out of the waste stream and put back into use.
The bicycles we have are donated by the community providing environmentally conscious folks with the ability to pass along their old and unused bicycles for someone else to love. Sometimes we receive some really nice bicycles that are then refurbished for sale as a mechanism of sustaining the work we do in the community. Other bicycles are used for the Blue Bicycle sharing program and for donating back to those in the community who are in need during our bicycle giveaways.
As the shop has continued to evolve and expand we have sought to grow and provide a better service for the community. Learning from community workshops across the country we closed the shop in September to reorganize and implement a more structured program. This started with hiring a workshop manager (Dave Harter) and head mechanic (Stacy Sauvageau). Along with our key volunteers such as Greg Wilder and Ed Lang the shop has been secured, cleaned and organized.
Tomorrow night, Oct 5th will be our grand re-opening providing an opportunity to reacquaint the community with the shop. Information will be available on classes, open shop nights and opportunities to volunteer in order for Green Options to continue to deliver its community initiatives. A new membership program has been developed and this will be your chance to be one of our first members.
There will be music and food with free tours of the shop and opportunities to learn how to get involved. If you’re a musical type, feel free to bring your instrument. The Peripatetic School is a community music gathering that you are welcome to join in on.
Schedule of the nights activities:
• 7:00 – 9:00 Food, Q&A, Chill Beats and Graffiti Art From Mike Excel, Paris Henderson & Friends
• 9:00 – 9:30 – Music by Deuce Ellis
• 9:30 – 10:30 – Music by The Peripatetic School
Please grab a friend and come by. Green Options Buffalo‘s Community Bicycle Workshop (AKA Blue Bicycle) is located at 98 Colvin Avenue (at the corner of Colvin & Linden).