Congrats to this Year's SWFBUDDY Award Winners

One of the best things I enjoy most about the annual Bicycle Bash is giving the coveted SWFBUDDY Award to local citizens and elected officials who step up and make Tampa Bay a more bicycle-friendly place. SWFBUD is proud to announce the 2012 Class of SWFBUDDY Award winners, who will receive their SWFBUDDYs at the Bicycle Bash event on Nov 4 in downtown Tampa. Our SWFBUDDY Award winners are:

-- Cindy Roberts, wife of fallen Tampa Police Officer Cpl. Mike Roberts. Cindy rode her bike 250 miles as part of the Police Unity Tour last year and she showed how truly inspirational bicycle riding can be when she rode in the memory of her husband during the PUT.

http://m.cfnews13.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/ot/both/2011/04/29/Wife_of_fallen_officer_rides_bike_250_miles_in_his_honor.html

-- Tampa City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione, who has consistently supported bicycling on the city council and as a member of MPO panels. Lisa knows bicycling makes Tampa a better place to live and has used her position to support steps to improve bicycling.

-- Architect Ken Cowart and political consultant Kevin Thurman, who this year submitted a business plan to the Hillsborough County Commission that prompted the commissioners to not demolish the Friendship TrailBridge. Not only did their report stop the demolition of the beloved Friendship TrailBridge, which was used by 600,000 annual users before it was closed, but their work has resulted in Hillsborough County government now working on a request for proposal to draw bids to rebuild the Friendship TrailBridge.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2012/jun/27/1/friendship-trail-bridge-gets-another-reprieve-ar-421090/

-- Antiques specialist Myron Griffin and Tampa Heights community leader Lena Younghave spearheaded a central Tampa bicycle and pedestrian trail movement called the Green Artery to build a network of paths and trails connecting the green spaces of central Tampa. Their unrelenting efforts have resulted in monthly neighborhood meetings in 20 different central Tampa communities over the past two years and have prompted Mayor Bob Buckhorn to support the concept. 

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/19800166/2012/10/11/group-envisions-green-artery-of-bike-trails-around-tampa  

 

SWFBUD congratulates the 2012 class of SWFBUDDY winners and looks forward to the Bicycle Bash on Nov 4 when they will be publicly recognized for their work.