Monday, February 22, 2010

Le mot juste

The Bee is always happy to welcome back returning players—it’s like seeing old friends again. But we are also glad to welcome new players into the event, to mix things up a bit. This year we are delighted to welcome a group that is not only new to the Bee, but comprised of players who do not even live in Dover.


The COD team was one of our first entrants this year. COD, you ask? Like the Cape? The fish? Call of Duty? (That one came from my teenager-in-residence.) Cash on Delivery? (That last one is getting pretty close.) No, the Bee’s COD team stands for Crack O’ Dawn—the early-morning bicycle-riding fund-raising powerhouses.

You might remember an article the Boston Globe carried this fall about this biking group. They have their own website, http://www.crackodawn.com/, which shows their routes, their stats, and their sense of humor (go on, have a look). You may even have heard them riding down the road outside of your bedroom window when most people you know still think it’s nighttime.

What you probably have NOT heard about is their charitable bent. The people affiliated with COD have raised, they estimate, nearly $2 million for the Pan Mass Challenge. Imagine how many miles they’ve logged to raise that kind of money.

And now, three of the COD cyclists are raising money for your Library. They figure that they enjoy riding through Dover, and want to give back to the community. How cool is that?

On March 25th we will say hello and welcome to COD riders Cliff Brown, Rich Polt and Bruce Cohen. This summer Cliff expects to surpass the $250,000 mark for PMC fundraising (he has been riding for PMC since 1999). Cliff and his family are great supporters of their local library in Brookline, and he brings his love of reading and Scrabble-playing skills to Dover. Rich Polt is the founder of Louder than Words, a public relations firm which supports philanthropic organizations and activities (check out his blog—you will like it). Bruce Cohen, who has completed nine marathons and earned a place in the United States Lacrosse Hall of Fame, has already passed the $250,000 fundraising mark for the PMC, and is looking forward to celebrating his 42nd wedding anniversary with his wife.

I can’t wait to meet these guys. And I have JUST the right word for them: eleemosynary. It means “relating to charity”. If anyone can relate to charity, I think it’s the COD team.

Welcome, and thank you for playing!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the blog post Kate! We've ridden many thousands of miles through Dover over the years, so this is just a small way of saying thank you.

-Rich