Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
This cyclist heads east on Route 30 early in the morning Sunday, beginning the statewide trek across Nebraska with hundreds of fellow cyclists.
Kimball served as the first host city for the 33rd annual Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN) trip across the state this past weekend.
Riders began pouring into the city of Kimball in the early afternoon of Saturday, June 1, on their way to the high school where they set up tents and took in a mandatory meeting in the High School auditorium.
By the end of the day, the practice field at the Kimball Junior/Senior High School was filled with a sea of tents as nearly 650 BRAN participants hunkered down for the night in order to get some much needed sleep for their ride to Chappell starting in the early hours of Sunday morning.
However, the cyclists’ time in Kimball was not contained to just the high school. According to Kimball County Tourism Director Jo Caskey, local businesses were packed with cyclists Saturday evening.
“The economic benefit to Kimball in those 48 hours is huge. I had spotters out that reported back to me. All the eating establishments in town had business,” Caskey said.
Not only were the regular eating establishments around town inundated with customers, but even the Kimball Event Center served nearly 100 BRAN riders Saturday evening.
“The Kimball Event Center sold out Saturday night and Sunday morning for their meals. They did a lasagna feed. They sold out of food in an hour and a half. They served about 100 people in an hour and a half, and they were still trying to make more food on the spot,” Caskey said.
Members of the BRAN committee also stopped by Main Street Market in order to pick up supplies for stops along the way between Kimball and Chappell where cyclists could take time to rest periodically. According to Caskey, the amount of fruit, water and power bars the committee purchased for the rest stops totaled over $2,000.
“I talked with one of the assistant managers, and he thinks that’s one of the largest single produce sales they have ever had. Events like this generate money in our community. They are really beneficial. Tourism does make a difference. It is economic development in our community,” Caskey said.
According to information from Eunice Jalass, Co-Chairman of BRAN previously received by this paper, BRAN not only benefits the communities that it passes through due to visiting local businesses but it also offers scholarships throughout the state of Nebraska in order to help Nebraska students attend Nebraska colleges.
“Northwest Rotary that puts on the bike ride actually does scholarships, and they give out about 28,000 dollars in scholarships annually,” Jalass said.
BRAN was first established in 1980 as a charitable Nebraska non-profit corporation.
Over the 33 years BRAN has been in existence cyclists for the organization have visited over 93 counties and 22 different starting towns, according to the BRAN website.