Inaugural Lynn Duse Memorial Kids’ Bike Fest honors dream of Petoskey champion

PETOSKEY — Lynn Duse had an idea two years ago to bring back an old Petoskey tradition.

“Lynn Duse actually came to me about two years ago and she said ‘I want to have a bike parade. We used to have them in Petoskey in the 40s and 50s when I was a little girl,’” said Cindy Okerlund, program coordinator for Pedaling with a Purpose with the Top of Michigan Trails Council.

A committee was formed and work was started on bringing a fun and safe children’s bicycle festival back to Petoskey.

“Then a couple months later we got a call that her husband had fallen ill and she needed to postpone it,” Okerlund said. “So we just sat back and I had it on my calendar to call Lynn Duse this January … The day that I was going to call her I heard that she had passed.”

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Duse died Jan. 11, 2023, leaving behind a long legacy of championing downtown Petoskey and the local community. Duse was a second generation owner and operator of the Circus Shop on Mitchell Street. Over the years, she sat on the Downtown Development Authority and Downtown Management boards. She was also a Little Traverse Historical Society board member and also served on the Greenwood Cemetery board.

After her death, Okerlund said they reformed the committee and started planning the festival again.

“It was something that (Duse) was really passionate about and wanted to bring back,” said Penny Crim, member of the board of directors for the Little Traverse Historical Society and committee chair for the bike festival. “We thought it was a really good idea, a great way to start the summer and so we just took off with it.”

Along with the Top of Michigan Trails Council, multiple nonprofit organizations and volunteers were involved in planning the event. A bike decoration station was hosted by the Crooked Tree Arts Center. Dave Russell of Dave's Boot Shop brought some antique bicycles from his collection to display and include in the parade. The Little Traverse Historical Museum was also open, with free admission, on the day of the event.

“We also have the United Way of Northwest Michigan here in collaboration with the Michigan State Police and they’re doing child car seat safety checks,” Crim said.

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And, on Saturday, June 10, the public came out to show their support at the first annual Lynn Duse Memorial Kids’ Bike Fest. Dozens of families brought along their bicycles to decorate and register for the bike parade along a section of the Little Traverse Wheelway. Poster boards memorializing Duse were placed around the staging area for people to see, and many of her family members were in attendance.

Both Okerlund and Crim said they were pleasantly surprised by the robust turnout.

“We had no idea. I had no idea,” Okerlund said.

“It’s one of those where you run that flag up the post and go ‘Is someone going to salute this thing or not?’ and they did. It’s wonderful,” Crim added.

There were three prizes drawn by raffle during the event. The top prize was a new Giant XtC Jr. bicycle in one of three sizes from Latitude 45 Bicycles & Fitness. Two-year-old Harriet Gossett was the grand prize winner on Saturday, with other prizes given for second, third and the best decorated bikes.

— Contact Jillian Fellows at [email protected].  

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Inaugural Lynn Duse Memorial Kids’ Bike Fest honors dream of Petoskey champion