Houghton/Hancock Bike and Pedestrian Survey available on line

HOUGHTON, HANCOCK -- The Houghton and Hancock Bicycle and Pedestrian committees and the Michigan Tech Bike-Friendly Campus Committee have released an on-line survey to gather input about local cycling and walking routes. All community members who bike or walk, and those who are interested in doing so, are asked to take 10 minutes and complete this brief survey.

On May 11, 2012, cyclist Sara Salo pedaled to Houghton -- the last miles of her 5,000 + mile School Lunch Tour, on which she visited hundreds of elementary schools and communities, promoting healthy choices for children. Now she is here in Hancock working with local committees on a survey to help improve the safety of non-motorized travel in and between Houghton and Hancock. (Keweenaw Now file photo © and courtesy Arne Kinnunen)

Learning where people regularly walk and bike will help to improve the safety of non-motorized travel in and between these communities. The survey will be open until Nov. 21 with results available by early 2013. The information gathered will be used to develop project priorities, provide supporting information for future grant proposals and contribute to city non-motorized plans.

The survey can be accessed on the City of Houghton or the City of Hancock websites, or directly at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2679HKG. For more information please contact Sara Salo, 906.482.7382, at the Western UP Health Department.

CLK Elementary students celebrate Safe Biking-Healthy Kids Day May 18

Abigail Harris-Berryman rides her bike to CLK Elementary in Calumet despite some wet weather this morning, Friday, May 18. CLK Elementary is participating in Bike2Work Day today with their own Pedal Power Safe Biking - Healthy Kids Day -- learning about bikes and healthy food. (Photo © and courtesy Crissy Gerhart)

CALUMET -- While older residents celebrate Bike2Work Day in the Copper Country, CLK Elementary School in Calumet is holding a special Pedal Power Safe Biking - Healthy Kids Day today, celebrating the final leg of Sara Salo’s 5,000+ mile bicycle tour promoting healthy foods and cycling for both transportation and recreation.

Sara Salo, founder and executive director of the School Food Bicycle Tour, with her bicycle, appeared Thursday night, May 17, at Michigan Tech, to lead a discussion on a film about food as a local and global issue -- part of the Green Film Series. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

Salo, a Houghton High School graduate, is the founder and executive director of the School Food Bicycle Tour with the goal of empowering students, schools, and communities to advocate for equitable access to wholesome food. She just completed her solo ride at CLK, and is helping launch a school-wide celebration of safe and healthy recreation and foods.

The CLK Elementary event is a project of the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative in cooperation with the Western UP Health Department’s Safe Routes to School Program and the School Food Bicycle Tour. Volunteers from Michigan Tech’s Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Departments, Cross Country Sports, Keweenaw Adventure Company, Copper Island Printing, Copper Harbor Trails Club, and the Western UP Health Department have given their time to support student learning and healthy activities at CLK!

Editor's Note: Watch for more photos, coming soon ...

Updated: Green Film Series to host film on food, visit by Sara Salo of School Food Bicycle Tour May 17

Sara Salo, founder of the School Food Bicycle Tour, stops for a photo on her 6,000-mile solo ride to call attention to community sustainable healthy food. She completes the ride in Houghton this week and will lead a discussion at the Green Film event Thursday, May 17, at Michigan Tech. (Photo by Myers Photo and courtesy The School Food Tour) 

HOUGHTON -- Food is a local issue, a global issue -- a development, health, political and economic issue. How can communities design a food system that ensures health, accessibility and affordability for everyone?

The Green Film Series continues this week with a film about food and a discussion facilitated by Sara Salo, founder and executive director of the School Food Bicycle Tour, a 6,000-mile solo ride with the goal of empowering students, schools and communities to advocate for equitable access to wholesome food.

Salo, who lives in Bend, Oregon, earned an M.S. in Public Health from Oregon State University. She is fascinated with examining and strategizing how the roles of place, community and individual come together to create and maintain sustainable food systems. Salo has also been involved in cycling for many years and strongly believes encouraging more people to ride bikes for both recreation and transport can make a powerful impact on the world.*

The film will be shown at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 17, in Fisher 135 on the Michigan Tech campus.** An audience discussion will follow, with coffee, tea and dessert served. The program is free. A donation of $3 is suggested.

The Green Film Series is sponsored by the Center for Water and Society, the Keweenaw Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and the Keweenaw Land Trust.

It is partially funded by a grant from the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw and the UP Environmental Coalition.

* To learn more about the School Food Bicycle Tour, visit their Web site.
** Update: Correction: We originally stated the incorrect time as 6 p.m. The film is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.