Cyclists riding for Sylvia Bingham help serve the community
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, November 2009) Thirty cyclists gathered at Edgewater Park on the morning of Saturday, October 17th, to begin a day of community service in the memory of Sylvia Bingham, age 22, who died on September 15th after being hit by a truck near E. 21st and Prospect in downtown Cleveland. Bingham, a VISTA volunteer at Hard Hatted Women, was cycling to work from her home on the near West side of Cleveland when the accident occurred.

Organizers of the day of cycling and community service, called “I Ride for Sylvia”, planned community service projects at a number of locations-- including cleaning-up of Perkins Beach at Edgewater Park; painting a mural in Slavic Village; winterizing a garden on the northeast side of the city; helping the Franklin Blvd Block Club plant blueberry bushes; and teaching bike safety and fitting helmets on children at Clark Field in an event hosted by Friends of Clark Field.

Alex Nosse, Sylvia Bingham’s boyfriend and an organizer of the event, said the idea of doing community service came from a desire to “open ourselves up” and do something “meaningful” in memory of Sylvia. Nosse said Sylvia, loved Perkins beach at Edgewater Park and in her short time in Cleveland was committed to community service. During her time in Cleveland, Sylvia spent much time with friends in both the Ohio City and Tremont neighborhoods.

Sylvia’s family also organized bike rides in the San Francisco, California area in her memory. Friends and family have created a blog to help promote bicycle safety and community service in her memory. Information on these efforts can be obtained at: sylviabingham.blogspot.com.

Prior to heading out in small groups to ride to their community service destinations, the cyclists performed bicycle safety checks on the bicycles with instructions from Jim Sheehan, Director of the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op.

Two of the Community Service projects were in areas served by the Plain Press.

In the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood cyclists Peter McDermott, Jeff Schuler and John Dido arrived at the Albert Hart Orchard and Garden in late morning. They joined with Franklin Boulevard Block Club members, which included Dave Roswurm, Shanon Hynes and Laurie Hanawalk to help plant some blueberry bushes on a plot of land between W. 80t and W. 79th just south of Franklin Blvd. Roswurm says they received permission from Norfolk and Southern Railroad to plant on the land and with the aid of a neighborhood connections grant hope to create an orchard. In addition to the blueberry bushes, they plan to plant raspberry bushes, and pear, plum, and peach trees.

At Clark Field in the Tremont neighborhood, cyclist arrived at a Friends of Clark Field event teaming with children enjoying face painting and other activities for children. Jim Sheehan and other cyclists on the “I Ride for Sylvia” excursion to Clark Field talked to the children about bicycle safety, inspected their bikes, and fitted some of the children with new helmets.

Editor’s Note: The Plain Dealer reported on Friday, October 23rd that the driver of the truck that ran over Sylvia Bingham has been indicted for vehicular homicide, failure to stop after an accident and driving under the influence. According to the Plain Dealer report police say the driver of the 2005 Peterbilt truck, Herschel Roberts, age 61, tested positive for marijuana.

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