Tour De Bay raises funds, unites generations

Mrs. Barbara Woodburn, her daughter Mrs. Diane Poretsky and grand-daughter Alexa Pohlkamp with their bikes and Tour De Bay map.

The popular community event, Tour De Bay, wrapped up on Sept. 2, having raised more than $1,900 for the Bay Village Education Foundation. BVEF would like to thank Tour organizers Anna Norcross, Melissa Alten and Emmie Gillette for the generous donation.

Of the roughly 150 families and individuals who participated in the Tour, which involved walking, biking or running every street in Bay over the course of the summer, three Bay residents made it a family affair. Mrs. Barbara Woodburn, fourth-grade teacher at Westerly, and her daughter Diane Poretsky, first-grade teacher at Normandy, completed the Tour together with the help of Mrs. Woodburn’s granddaughter, Alexa Pohlkamp. Alexa, an eighth-grader at BMS, did not run or bike with her aunt and grandmother, but she used her birthday money to buy a bike for Mrs. Woodburn to use on the Tour!

“She’s got the biggest heart in Bay Village,” Mrs. Woodburn said of her granddaughter. Alexa went to the Village Bicycle Cooperative and purchased the refurbished bike for her grandma; then the two Bay teachers conquered the Tour in fine style.

With the end of the tour, BVEF is looking forward to another school year. Teachers, staff and students in the Bay Village City School District can apply for grant monies to fund innovative educational projects throughout the district. The deadline for applications is Sept. 30, and interested applicants can go to bayedfoundation.org.

BVEF is an independent non-profit volunteer organization that funds educational projects not supported by tax dollars. In its 28th year, the organization has awarded over $195,000 in grants to fund nearly 100 projects that span from grades K-12 and across all areas of the curriculum. Anyone can help BVEF continue to create opportunities for Bay students by making a tax-deductible donation at bayedfoundation.org.

Jacquie Mayer

Bay Village Education Foundation trustee

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Volume 5, Issue 19, Posted 10:20 AM, 09.17.2013