MARCH 20, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B5
Put pedal to pavement
in Monster Cookie ride
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Mmm...cookies.
You don’t have to be the
Cookie Monster to appre-
ciate the Monster Cookie
Metric Century Bicycle
Ride, taking place Sunday,
April 26.
The 39 th annual event,
sponsored by the Salem Bi-
cycle Club, begins at 10 a.m.
and covers a 62 mile (100 ki-
lometer) path from the state
capitol in Salem to Cham-
poeg State Park and back.
Keizer’s Hersch Sangster
and his family started the
event in April 1977 and it has
grown ever since.
“We started with 12 riders
that first year,” Sangster said
on Monday. “We’re expect-
ing about 2,000 this year.”
The event derives the first
part of its name from the
sweet treat; the Metric Cen-
tury part comes from the
race distance. The event was
originally called the Salem
Bicycle Club Metric Cen-
tury Bike Ride.
“The first couple of years,
we offered baked apple pies
along the route for rid-
ers,” Sangster said. “We got
complaints, since the riders
couldn’t put the pies in their
jerseys.”
In 1982, that problem was
solved when Nancy Lewis
and others started baking
monster cookies – complete
with the M&Ms – and giv-
ing them to riders.
“The race became known
as the Monster Cookie Ride
and the name stuck,” said
Sangster, noting The Orego-
nian refers to the event as the
third best bike ride in the
state.
When the event was start-
ed, the goal wasn’t to be bet-
WMS
Hoops
funder
raises
$5,000
ter than any other event. As
far as Sangster is aware, this
is the oldest continuous run-
ning bike ride in Oregon.
True to tradition, monster
cookies will still be available
at stops. Riders can also or-
der a sandwich for $7.50.
Pre-registration costs $25
before April 17, or $30 for
day-of-ride registration from
8 to 10 a.m. T-shirts are also
available for $20.
More information on the
ride is available at www.sa-
lembicycleclub.org or by
calling Larry Miles at 503-
580-5927 or via e-mail at
cookie@salembicycleclub.
org.
Salem Bicycle Club is also
sponsoring an End Polio
Ride with the Keizer Ro-
tary on June 28. Information
on that event is available at
www.keizerrotary.org.
Left: Whiteaker sixth
grader Olivia Cartwright
adds her name to a
banner signed by all
the Hoops for Hearts
fundraiser participants.
Below: Ryan
Starkweather puts up a
shot during a celebratory
party at the school earlier
in March.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Whiteaker Middle School
students made another huge
donation to the American
Heart Association this year.
The Wolverines raised more
than $5,000 exceeding their
goal for the monthlong fun-
draiser.
Students Mikayla Colenan
and Noah Kuhl both raised
more than $200 for the effort.
“I had a grandpa who
passed away from heart prob-
lems, so this is an issue that
means a lot to me,” Mikayla
said. “We also just had (de-
fibrillators) installed in the
school so that goes to show
how important this is.”
Noah said family members
were his biggest source of help.
“This is something I do
every year because I know
people who have had heart
problems and I like knowing
I’m helping them,” Noah said.
What’s the key to being a
good fundraiser?
“You have to show people
how much (the issue) means
to you,” Mikayla said.
Student Nathan Young was
the school’s top fund-raiser
this year.