By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – There is going to be a special event today that will allow youngsters to show off their bicycle skills and for police to show the young people bicycle safety.
However, the event – at 4 p.m. Wednesday (May 12) in the parking lot at Fifth Street and the boardwalk – is much more than that.
It’s a way for young people and police to get to know each other, to strengthen community bonds and to show that groups of young bicycle riders from Ocean City are not a menace.
Sarah Gaddy of Ocean City has been working with police, the city administration and Community Services Department to put on this event, sponsored by the Ocean City Police Department.
As a mother of five children in the Ocean City School District, Gaddy saw social media posts about dangerous and reckless bicycle riding on city streets and the boardwalk and how many of those posts were demonizing young people. She went to a recent Ocean City Council meeting to voice her concerns about the negative reactions. That led her to start working with the city and OCPD to organize an event to change the perceptions about local youths and build a positive relationship between them and the police department.
Gaddy went to the meeting with two other mothers because “it was starting to get really out of control on social media and people were misinformed. The local kids were being targeted and it started being very vicious.”
After meeting with the police, Mayor Jay Gillian, Aide to Mayor Michael Allegretto and Community Services Director Dan Kelchner, the idea formed to throw an event where the youths could support, engage and interact with police officers “so they would know each other in a positive way.”
Gaddy pointed out young people spent a year living under the restrictions of the pandemic, locking them down, canceling their activities, keeping them out of school so they couldn’t see their friends and leading to depression and anxiety. As a mother, she noticed the negative changes in their behavior and in their mental and physical health.
“We have all been through so much this past year,” she said.
Gaddy said she started seeing a positive change when children, including some of her own, started to get outside riding bikes, learning tricks and finding friendship and camaraderie with other bike riders.
“They don’t want to get in trouble, they don’t want to get traffic violations,” she said. “They just found something to do during the time when there was nothing for them.”
Gaddy credited Police Chief Jay Prettyman and the incredible support of Sgt. Jamie Fearnhead and Officer Jack Davis in working on this event. Local businesses have been supportive as well.
“The event is about unity and the community coming together in a time of crisis,” Gaddy said. “It’s not about kids getting in trouble.” The idea is to have positive interactions with police, something that has already begun, with officers playing basketball with kids and some even trying to learn some bike tricks.
She contends there are older kids coming from offshore and causing problems on the island and she doesn’t want that to overshadow youths building a relationship with their local police force.
The event includes police explaining bike safety “because we want to make sure when our kids are riding their bikes, they are following the rules, they are being respectful on the island. It is to teach them … that you can have fun on your bikes, but let’s do it the right way.”
Gaddy said no one wants to get ticketed for bicycle riding infractions. “We want to teach them how to safely have fun so everyone can coexist on the island.”
“It’s going to be an amazing event. So many people have put so much time into it,” she said, adding she has been surprised that so many people have listened to her – as just a local mom addressing a problem – and have been willing to help.
Gaddy said the young people are going to entertain the crowd with their bicycle tricks. “These kids are not thugs, they are not gang members. They’re just kids trying to find a way to survive in a really hard time right now.”
“We have to bring Ocean City back to what it was known for. We are America’s Greatest Family Resort. We are not what these (critics) are saying. This is a safe place. We have to learn how to work together better.”
She also wants other residents to know when they see large gatherings of young people on bikes, not to instantly judge them in a negative light. In turn, she wants the young bike riders to see the police as people who want to help and protect them, not as officials out to get them.
She encourages the whole community to come out to today’s event.
The event is open to Ocean City youth and students in the Ocean City School District, and registration is at 4 p.m. The Community Policing Unit will make a bicycle safety presentation. A skills competition for children 10 to 15 years old will include wheelies and freestyle, with gift cards as prizes for the longest wheelies. Pizza and soda will be provided by the 6th Street Pizza and Grill. All who attend will be entered to win a $1,000 SE Monster Ripper 29” bicycle donated by the Tuckahoe Bike Shop and there are other merchants offering treats for those who attend.