Submitted by Thurston County REALTORS®
Kimberley Bauman, Designated Broker of Sound Advantage Realty in Olympia, Washington, a member of Gateway Rotary and the Thurston County REALTORS® Association, organized a community bike ride named the Tour de Lacey. Tour de Lacey, held on July 9, 2016, is an organized ride that began and ended at Huntamer Park in Lacey.
This fun filled ride was created to raise much needed funds to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Thurston County and to increase awareness of the amazing parks and trails in Lacey and the surrounding areas. The National Association of REALTORS® and the Boys and Girls Clubs recently joined forces in an effort to strengthen communities and support the country’s youth. Kimberley noted that, “these two outstanding community organizations really came together to make this a great event.”
Many members of Gateway Rotary and the Thurston County REALTORS® Association volunteered to help the event go smoothly. Michelle Wickett of Axia Home Loans is the current president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Thurston County and also a member of the Thurston County REALTORS® Association. Michelle was excited for the opportunity for these two organizations to join forces and provide the volunteers to make this event such a success. She was very appreciative of everyone’s participation and the monies raised for the local Boys and Girls Clubs.
Jerry Wilkins, President of the Thurston County REALTORS® Association and also a Gateway Rotary member, said, “We are proud to partner with Gateway Rotary and the local Realtor® association. This partnership will have a significant impact toward providing support to the localBoys and Girls Clubs. It was really nice to see the readiness of Rotarians and REALTORS® to come out and support this initial event. We are looking forward to an even greater event next year.”
Tour de Lacey also featured “Safety Town”, which was a closed course for small children with balance bikes, training wheels, or simply new to riding. In “Safety Town” children learned about road safety, cycling safety and also received a helmet fitting.
The Thurston County REALTORS® Association of nearly 600 REALTOR® members provides professional real estate services to buyers and sellers primarily in the Thurston County area and are always working to protect property rights and our quality of life locally and in Washington State.
The Gateway Rotary Club, located in Lacey, Washington consists of over 100 local business leaders who meet every Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. for breakfast at the Forrey’s Forza Conference Center in Lacey. Their fellowship brings together the kind of people who step forward to take on important issues for the local community. Rotary members hail from a range of professional backgrounds; doctors, artists, small business owners and executives all call themselves Rotarians. Rotary connects these unique perspectives, and helps leverage its members’ expertise to improve lives everywhere.
