WILSON – Waves of dedicated cyclists recently made Calvin E. Krueger Park on Lake Road their first stop on a 585-mile sojourn around Lake Ontario to raise awareness and funds for tree care and education.
Members of the Wilson Lions Club and friends welcomed 80 bicycle riders from around the country and the world on July 28 in the “Tour des Trees.”
“It was spectacular,” said Mayor Bernard Leiker, who also serves as president of the Wilson Lions Club.
The Tour des Trees event is a weeklong cycling excursion that serves a dual purpose. The event helps raise awareness of the need to care for a community’s trees, and it also raises money to help fund tree research and education programs.
Each year, 75 to 100 cyclists who share a passion for trees and for the environment join forces in this effort.
Leiker explained that the group chooses a different site each year for this event.
“They started this year in Niagara Falls, Ont., and rode here, making Wilson their first stop on Lake Ontario,” he said. “Then they rode on to Medina and Rochester and around the lake. By the end of the week, they ended up in Toronto, where they held their convention. It was very exciting.”