Boy Scout Troop No. 99 Scoutmaster James Demo, Ringgold Elementary School fifth-grader Alex Evans and Heritage Middle School eighth-grader Ethan Demo, from left, stand beside their completed bicycle rack at the corner of Legion Drive and LaFayette Street in downtown Ringgold.Downtown Ringgold is becoming a bicycling destination thanks to the help of local Boy Scouts.
Troop No. 99 Star Scout Ethan Demo and Scout Alex Evans worked side by side to build two bike racks downtown, at the corner of Legion Drive and Lafayette Street and in front of the Ringgold ShopRite. The steel bicycle racks can each hold four to six bikes, depending on wheel size.
“Councilman Earl Henderson is interested in introducing biking in downtown Ringgold,” said troop master James Demo, who assisted his Scouts in building the bike racks. “It’s an overall long-range plan of Earl’s to make Ringgold more bike friendly. He wants to put one bike rack at CVS later and one bike rack at Ingles.”
Other racks await at the city’s “triangle park,” Ringgold City Pool and Ringgold City Hall.
“This project teaches Scouts how to improve the community,” Demo said of building bike racks. “They are performing a community service.”
Henderson said the parts were purchased by attorney Marshall Bandy.
“We are trying to move in the right direction,” said Henderson. “We have a lot of people walking already. I feel good about the direction we are going. We will keep moving forward. I’d like to get more businesses involved in the bike racks and get the Scouts to keep building more. We will keep moving from there.”