Chain Gang "Recycle-a-Bike" Program

Have fun as you volunteer for the new recycle a bike program. As a ChainGanG volunteer you will help guide a group of six to eight children between the ages of 10 and 13 from Martinsville Middle School on how to repair and assemble donated bikes. Children will benefit from this program as they:

• Earn a bike at the end of the 6-week program
• Learn new life skills
• Build self esteem.

Children will also learn helmet safety, bike safety and rules of the road. This program is to encourage and increase physical activity among children through biking and provide bikes to children that do not have one.

The program will be held on Tuesdays from 3:45 to 5:00 PM. Scheduled program dates for this school year are May 5th, 12th, 19th and 25th. The program will start again in September when ids return to school. A certified bike mechanic from Cardinal Bike in Roanoke will come to Martinsville and teach volunteers how to rebuild a bike and perform a bike tune-up. A tentative ate for training is April 25th. New students will rotate through the program every six weeks. The program will be lead by a Martinsville Police Officer and a certified Bike Smart Basics Trainer. The ChainGanG program is sponsored by Activate MHC, Martinsville Police Dept., Martinsville Middle School and Cardinal Bikes. Anyone who is interested in volunteering or would like more information may contact Activate at 638-2523 x204.

The ChainGanG Earn-A-Bike Club offers kids a chance to earn their own bike by completing a series of hands-on lessons in basic bike mechanics and bike safety, which also focus on personal responsibility, achievement and self-empowerment. This program is available to students in Martinsville Middle School that do not have bikes and are currently taking or have previously passed the Bike Smart Basics P.E. curriculum.

How Earn-A-Bike Works

1. Week 1: Kids learn the names of the parts of the bicycle, how to do a safety check and rules of the road. (Laminated picture of a bike where students have to match the bike parts with the names)
2. Week 2: Kids learn how to change a flat tire and adjust brakes.
3. Week 3: Kids take a bike comprehension test and choose their bikes. (Best score gets first choice out of our Earn-A-Bike inventory, second best score chooses next and so on down.)
4. Week 4: Kids start working on the bike
5. Week 5: Kids continue working on the bike.
6. Week 6: Kids finish fixing the bike. Attach front & back lights. Kids receive a lock and helmet if they do not have one. Cardinal Bike (Roanoke) will test the bikes, if all is good after the test, the bike goes home with the student that built it!

Earn-a-Bike Rules:

• RESPECT each other, your instructors, the tools, and the bikes.
• Start on time, end on time. Put away all tools, parts and bikes before leaving.
• Address adults respectfully as Mr. or Mrs. or Ms.
• No horseplay, keep your hands to yourself, no running or wandering around the shop.
• Always get approval from the adult in charge before starting or changing a task. Begin a task, complete a task.
• Do not leave the shop without permission.
• Children must ask an adult to use the restroom.
• Helmets must be worn at all times when riding a bike!

Article contributed by Activate M-HC

Start Walking for a Healthier Lifestyle!

Wear sneakers to work and take a stand against heart disease by participating in National Start Walking Day.

Walk for health. Walk for life.

Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity and has multiple health benefits:

Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
Improve blood lipid profile
Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
Enhance mental well-being
Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
Reduce the risk on non-insulin dependant (Type 2) diabetes

Did you walk 10,000 steps today?

Barbara Thompson of Martinsville did!

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Like most of the 70 million Americans who have arthritis, you’ve probably tried all kinds of things to relieve your pain. Research shows that becoming more physically active can help. For many years, everyone thought that people with arthritis should rest to spare their joints. In fact, Just the opposite is true.

Low-impact activities such as walking are crucial for people with arthritis. It increases strength and flexibility, reduces joint pain, and helps combat fatigue. Of course, when stiff and painful joints are already bogging you down, the thought of walking a mile might make you cringe. Activate can help with that by providing the tools, encouragement and support you need.

One participant of our Low Impact Walking Program has severe joint pain. She didn’t start off running a marathon. She started slowly and gradually with 10 minutes at a time. We encouraged her to let her body be her guide. It was hard for her to carry on a conversation from lack of breath. Now she walks up to 30 to 45 minutes per day, 3 or more days a week and talks to everyone as she passes them on the track at the Low Impact Walk!

If you are experiencing the pain and stiffness of arthritis, there’s something you can do about it that will not cost you a dime. Walk more. There are many beautiful trails throughout our community with walking groups that individuals can join. If you are not familiar with all of the vast opportunities to get you up, out and active, go to http://www.GetActiveMHC.org/ and download the FREE 30 page Activity Toolkit or call Activate at 276-638-2523 Ext 204. Not only will you get a valuable guide to better health, you will also receive a free pedometer and water bottle.
Be sure to check out Activate’s FREE Low Impact Beginner’s Walk brought to you through the partnership of Activate and the YMCA. Participants can go the Martinsville YMCA from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and use the elevated walking track. Contact Activate at 276-638-2523 Ext 204 for more information. As with any exercise regimen, we recommend that you talk to your physician before starting this program.

Students Get Bike Smart

Students anxiously wait for the bicycling program being offered this spring at Martinsville Middle and Laurel Park Middle School. "We've been looking out the window at where the bikes are and can't wait to ride them" indicated one middle school student.

Working with our corporate partner, Cardinal Bicycle on Orange Avenue in Roanoke, Activate was able to bring thirty-five bikes to be used in physical education classes in both middle schools.

Thanks to the PE teachers that have embraced the Bike Smart Basics, a SOL certified program, it has now been added as a program within their classes. Hopefully this new program will excite kids who normally do not take PE as an elective class.

Working in the rain to load and unload all of the bikes, City Shop employees and Activate staff enjoyed every minute of it. There is just something magical about bicycles. Maybe it is that childhood memory of that first bike, learning how to first ride the bike or maybe it is just that connection to how simple life used to be.

Special thanks to City Employees: Steve, Chris and Clyde for loading and unloading the bikes and to Lane and Leon for providing the assistance!

Seeing those smiling faces of the students and being greeted by them as we pulled in the trucks hauling the bikes and being able to be part of that excitement brought sunshine to a very rainy day!

New Paddling Classifieds

Spring has sprung and it's time to get back out on the river. If you are looking for a good used boat or you want to sell/trade to upgrade your existing boat check out this new website: www.SellMyCanoe.com.

See you on the river!

Spring Arrives at Gravely Nature Preserve

In late 2008, area Girl Scouts, the Martinsville-Henry County Master Gardeners, and the staff of Prillaman Landscape Dimensions assisted DRBA in the planting of trees alongside the parking lot at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve. This project was made possible by generous donations from Anne Carter Lee Gravely and C.D. Prillaman.

The trees are doing well and growing. The Yoshimo Cherry trees are sporting bright green leaves, and the Redbuds are starting to bloom with their trademark purple flowers. These trees are going to benefit the preserve by adding creating oxygen to breathe, making shade in the parking lot, and reducing noise from the road.

Cool Fact: Did you know that the flowers of Redbuds look like tiny hummingbirds? If you you haven't noticed that before- check it out!

Photo by Jennifer Doss

Volunteers Enhance Area Trails

Thanks to a group of DRBA volunteers, our local trails just got a little better! On Tuesday of this week, the troupes rallied together to install three benches along the new Phase II extension of the Fieldale Trail. Each bench had to be moved down the trail individually so garden carts and teamwork were the key to this project.

Now that the task is complete, walkers have several places to rest and enjoy the scenic Smith River while out on the trail. Special thanks to the Magna Vista High School FFA Club, and their instructors: Mr. Holland, Ms. Stout, and Ms. Metz for assembling the benches.


On Wednesday the volunteers gathered at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve in Ridgeway to spruce up Jones Cliff Trail. They removed rocks, stumps, and roots from the trail surface that had the potential to become tripping hazards. Now the trail is in much better condition and ready for joggers and walkers to enjoy it.

Special thanks to Brian Williams, Chad Hall, Paul May, Linda Drage, and Wayne Kirkpatrick for helping out with these two projects!

If you'd like to volunteer on a trail workday or participate in the Adopt-a-Trail program, please contact Jennifer Doss- Rivers & Trails Project Manager at 276-634-2545 or jdoss@danriver.org.

Photos by: Jennifer Doss & Brian Williams

Article by: Jennifer Doss