Meet John Greene running for VP \ Ride Chairman (Incumbent)

• How long have you been a member of HBC?
• 15 years

• What positions have you held in the club? 
• Vice President / Ride Chairman , Ride Leader
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• Why do you want to run for this position?
• I have the experience and passion for cycling to be an effective leader to help maintain and grow the Huntington Bicycle Club, the best bicycle club on Long Island.
•  
• What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc.
• My vision is to stay true to the traditional values of HBC honoring those founders of the club who worked so hard to make the club the success it is today.
• I will continue to make sure there is a full roster of rides each and every weekend from our official ride start location, Smith Street, Greenlawn.
• I will support the new technology that makes it easier to communicate, register for rides and keep informed of club events and news related to the world of cycling.
• Most importantly, I will work in conjunction with the Executive Board to devise a system to solicit feedback from all ride levels of the club so everyone will have a voice in in determining the future of HBC.
•  
• Any other comments?
• The following is a list of my current responsibilities with HBC :
• Conducting the annual Ride Leader meeting as well as being an active Ride Leader
• Recruiting potential new ride leaders
• Ride Captain for A+/A/B+ levels
• Administering the Ride Leader points and awards program
• Planning & running the Gold Coast Volunteer Party
• Planning & running the Holiday Party including working with caterers and payments
• Monthly club meeting pizza and beverage

 

Meet Larry Denbaum running for VP \ Ride Chairman

• How long have you been a member of HBC?
    11 years

• What positions have you held in the club?
    Board member for 1 year,  Ride leader for 5 years, Gold Coast Volunteer for many of those years.

• Why do you want to run for this position?
      I want to bring my ride leader experience to enhance all of our ride levels.  Over the last few years, I have offered new ride options to club members.  Some of them are improved routes from both Smith Street and Breezy Park.  Others are remote rides in the Hamptons, North Fork, Hudson Valley, Empire Bike path, Kings Park, etc.  I work hard at planning routes that use low traffic roads.  I utilize multiple start locations for my rides.  We need to offer rides where our club members feel comfortable and safe.

• What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc
  . The club’s future is bright. Our new website has excellent features, easy to use, and allows us to manage how many ride leaders we need at any given week. Once a ride is full, we can get another ride leader to lead. What we need to do better is having both ride leaders to post their rides with enough lead time, and riders that sign up as early as possible.
• Riding with a club is not a one way street. We need commitment from both Ride leaders and Riders to be more successful. Both ride leaders and riders need to be responsible for planning their weekends in advance which makes riding a fun, healthy part of your weekend. You can always look at the calendar and come to any ride that still has open spots even though we prefer you sign up in advance .For those who do not like to sign up for a ride in advance and spontaneously come down to the lot, consider this. Going on a bike ride with other people needs to be managed and planned to make it more enjoyable and safer for all. Do you want to come down to a ride and not know the route beforehand? Maybe that route is not what you want to do or you are now really excited to join that ride. Would you rather have 16 people on a ride or 2 groups of 8.This all gets settled by planning.
• I want to work with ride leaders from all group levels and help them when needed in planning routes .I encourage ride leaders to post rides from wherever the best start location is.Smith Street is our primary start location, but there is no reason not to have rides start from Breezy Park which I also consider a local starting point.

• Any other comments? 
  I am passionate about the Huntington Bike Club,  I owe a lot of thanks to other members which have mentored me over the years which include John Greene, Karen Gellert, Malachy O’Connor, and Scott Gross.  By attending their rides, I have learned a lot from them over the years and have taken and refined many of their routes by choosing less traveled roads and making them even better.  I would like to see more rides starting from locations such as Breezy Park, and St. James.  I am happy to see that this year many of my co- riders now have GPS computers, and loading routes on my rides are now being done regularly.  I am open to suggestions from all our members and will show empathy to your concerns.

 

Meet Scott Gross running for Board of Directors (Incumbent)

• How long have you been a member of HBC?

            This is my fourteenth year as a member of HBC.

• What positions have you held in the club?  

1. Active and fully involved member of HBC throughout my 14 yr. membership.
2. Ride leader for 13 years.
3. Gold Coast volunteer:  Setup, Registration table for each of the regular Gold Coast years for each year I have been a member, Road markings for the last few years as well.
4. Chair of the Retention Committee for the last 6 years
5. Outside Club Liaison for the last 2 years.
6. Board of Directors for the last 4 years

 

• Why do you want to run for this position?

 It has been an honor to serve on the Board of Directors for the last four years. I have enjoyed serving the club, volunteering to make the club function better, and ensure the fiscal integrity of the club over the last few years under our current financial crisis through our austerity budget. I have also used my medical training and expertise to assist and guide the executive committee to permit the club to continue to safely function and thrive throughout the pandemic. I would like to continue to assist in safely reopening and easing the restrictions on club activities as club health and safety permits.

 

• What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc.

 While I have particular interest in technology and technological advances, I also have been a member for the last 14 years, so I appreciate the history and traditions of the club. I believe we need to focus on cycling as the most important aspect of the club. We need to encourage new ride leaders to step up and come up with new rides and new destinations. I feel we need to continue the historical traditions that have made us a vital club yet support the new ideas and new computer and equipment advances in riding and ride organization. We do need to continue to recruit new members, yet we need to respect the older riders and long-standing members for their experience and knowledge. We also need to continue to support the various levels of riders and need to assure we have a wide variety of rides and ride levels on a regular basis.

 

• Any other comments?

I’ve talked too much already!

 

 

 

Meet Bruce Feinberg running for Board of Directors 

 

How long have you been a member of HBC?
  I joined the Huntington Bicycle Club the spring in 1992 and have been a member ever since.  I rode quite a bit with the club the first 2 years of my membership and was even a ride leader during this period. For a long time after, I rode only when possible due to demands of my business and family.  However, the last few years I have entered into retirement and have become an active member.

 

What positions have you held in the club? 

 I am an active Ride Leader, have worked the registration for the Gold Coast many years, and have helped test ride the Gold Coast routes. I have been the Hospitality Chairman this year, sending gift baskets to injured members and Thank You's to donors,.

Why do you want to run for this position?

After participating more in club activities during a last several years, I know I can help in a leadership position.

 

What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc.

I would like to see the club be a force for improvements for cycling on Long Island.  For example, there is now the “3-foot law” in Suffolk County, however no drivers are aware of this.  We need to petition the Highway Department and legislatures to change the signage from “Share the Road” to something like “Give 3 Feet to Bicycles it’s the Law”.  

 

What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc.

The club has a membership right now which is at what may be at an all-time high number.  It should be a policy if a new member shows up for a ride to greet them and make them feel welcome.  An experienced rider can help mentor them during the ride.  This policy would improve retention of membership and create a better club rider.

 

Any other comments?

Vote for me, and I will bring back Veggie Pizza to the meetings.

 

 

Meet Owen Kassimir running for Board of Directors 

• How long have you been a member of HBC? 
   Since 2013

• What positions have you held in the club? 
   President, Committee Chairman, Ride Leader, Gold Coast Volunteer

• Why do you want to run for this position?
  I get things done!

• What is your vision for the future of the club, changes, improvements, etc
  .  Get everyone riding as much as possible and safely. I think it's time for some new routes and different destinations.

• Any other comments?
  You all know me. No other comments.

 

 

Meet Tony Barone running for Board of Directors 

 

• How long have you been a member of HBC?
  18 years

   

• What positions have you held in the club? 
  President 5 years, ran the Gold Coast for seven years

   

   

• Why do you want to run for this position? 

   

  I was asked if I would consider the position and thought about it for a while and decided perhaps I could lend some old time thinking to the clubs needs and direction.