Hello Everyone,
Wow, the end of the year is upon us and my mind is spinning. I won’t give you the full run down of everything yet – I’ll write an end up the year update at the end of the month, but we were at our busiest this year! I know I say that every year, but in October when our youth programs traditionally slow down we increased them. Not only did we start a new program, but we also saw a 185% increase in the number of youth coming to our Saturday program. When things usually slow down in Sept/Oct every year, we didn’t see that slow down until Dec. The biking “season” is growing. More about that later though.
I want to talk about our first ever Noel Night event. As usual, without the help of many it would not have been possible. My co-worker, Heather, worked really hard to create the event and it went off great! We got to use CCNDC’s community hall and collaborated with our friends in the building: Hardcore Detroit and Ocelot Print Shop.
And of course there were all of our volunteers and friends that showed up. Heather and I were nervous as anyone would throwing an event, but I know I can say that it all went away surrounded by those that support us. I feel truly grateful for all of those that helped us out. Definitely too many to name.
Perhaps you will recognize some of them that went into our photo booth on that night. If you are a facebook user you can find a gallery here. If you don’t use facebook, have no fear – we’ve got a gallery here for you to go through.
Besides our visitors, neighbors and volunteers we also have to thank all of the really great artists that donated their work. There was such a variety of really great work. There were around 28 pieces in all. If you missed the event, we’ve got a few that didn’t sell that we’ll be putting up online soon. So keep an eye out to catch some really good art before the holiday!
As with most bike shops, winter is the hardest time for us to stay open. Especially since our retail shop has to make money for the shop to stay open AND fund Back Alley Bikes.
As we expand what we do, so do budgets. It is often a scary game of guessing to see if we are going to make it. I now know why this time of year is so stressful for so many people. Whoever invented a holiday where you are supposed to spend a bunch of money at the time of year when you have the least is either a sadist or a business owner that needed revenue (probably both).
After last weekend though, I’m calming down. Back Alley Bikes isn’t going anywhere. Due to the work of those that came before me, the hard work of the Back Alley Bikes/Hub staff, the tireless work of our volunteers and support from our friends – we will make it just fine.
I’ll leave you with this. Before Hardcore Detroit performed, one of their members talked about the CCNDC space that houses their offices, our bike shops and Hardcore’s practice space. She spoke about how hip-hop is all about community and sharing. About how our building has been a place to gather together with folks of different backgrounds for a few decades now. CCNDC has provided that space. There is a history in our corner of the neighborhood that is strong with community. I might be typing this update from a drafty warehouse space with the temperature below freezing outside, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else.
Thanks everyone.
– jason x
