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Fundraiser at the Hub Community Bike Shop to raise money for move

The Hub will move to a location on Ohio Street within the next few months // Photo by Kelly Pearce

By Tanner Thompson
A crowd of community members filled the yard of the Hub Community Bike Shop throughout the day on Saturday, July 21 at the Hub’s first annual Hub Fest fundraiser. Bellingham’s nonprofit community bike shop was forced to find a new location to make way for a new urban housing development. The Hub will be moving to Ohio Street in a business complex close to Bellingham High School and Wander Brewing within the next few months. The Hub owner Kyle Morris and his team organized the fundraiser and started a GoFundMe to help pay for their first year. HUB4 Many people came out to the community bike shop in excitement for the raffle for five custom bikes made by Morris and his mechanics. A sixth mystery bike donated from an anonymous mechanic was also raffled, Morris said.  For every $10 a person donated, The Hub gave them one raffle ticket.
Morris said that he built his bike up from scratch from pieces in their boneyard which is a plethora of unused donated bikes that fill a large section of The Hub. HUB19 Bicycles laid out in what’s nicknamed “The Bike Graveyard.” // Photo by Kelly Pearce The Hub also made limited edition beer sleeves they called “Hub Koozies” and glasses for a donation of $10 to $20, which people used throughout the night. Casey Atwater, a Seattle cyclist, came with his mother Monica Atwater in support of the shop. The also came to get Monica a new “old lady bike” and participate in the raffle. Atwater said he got his first bike from this shop, and he loves to support the Hub when he can. “This is a great place, I’m always keeping my ears open for their events,” Casey said. HUB15 Mari Tarleton works on her grandmother’s old bicycle during her second visit to the Hub. // Photo by Kelly Pearce Mechanic Nico Campos has been working for the Hub for five months. He said when building his bike that he tried to keep the Hub’s motto of “recycle and reuse” in mind. To keep the bike eco-friendly, Campos said he made sure that most of the bike parts came from the boneyard. He said the only thing that the chain and seat of the bike were  the only new parts.  His second goal was to find a middle ground when constructing the bike, so that the person who wins it will be able to ride it how ever they want. “I wanted anybody to be able to ride it,” Campos said. “So people don’t have to ask the question, ‘Can I ride this on the trail?’ Yeah man, you can go anywhere!” By the end of the night, many bikes were sold and hot dogs eaten.The Hub announced the winners in a Facebook video on Sunday.
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