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Marge Coragliotli's bicycle club has swelled to 200 members but in the beginning, teaching safety to Concord, Calif., youngsters proved a struggle.
HANDSOME, 14-year-old John Pliler
was a friend to everyone, but par
ticularly to Clyde and Marge Cora
gliotti, a childless couple who lived in
his neighborhood in Concord, Calif.
John was a familiar figure around the Coragli
otti home, helping in the yard, running errands,
and sometimes just keeping the couple company.
They looked forward to his frequent visits.
That's why the news that stunned others on
the block that warm afternoon in May, 1952, was
crushing to them. John had turned his bicycle
into the side of a bus and was killed instantly.
The emptiness in their lives was almost more
than they could bear; he had been like a son to
them. They knew they must do something to keep
his memory alive something lasting. But what?
Finally, a thought came to Marge Coragliotti :
"John still might be alive if he had known more
about bicycle safety. Suppose I try teaching bike
safety to others?"
There were many things against it. She worked
all day in the Navy shipyard. Also, she and her
husband owned a bicycle shop, and it would be
easy for gossips to say bicycle-safety work was
simply a gimmick to attract business.
Spring faded into fall and fall into rainy win
ter. The Coragliotlis still had not decided on an
appropriate memorial. Then one day, almost a
year after John was killed, a bike rider fell in
front of the car in which Marge was a passenger.
The driver slammed on the brakes, and the auto
mobile stopped inches from the boy. He was
frightened but uninjured. Marge helped him up.
He was about John's age the same sandy hair,
the same disarming smile. At that moment, she
made nn important decision: she would quit her
job in the shipyard and work for the safety of
Concord's children in John's name.
Marge set a date for a meeting, sent notices
to the newspaiers, and bought refreshments and
prizes. The day came: an overcast Oct. 16, 1953.
She Makes
Bicycling
Safer!
The boy had been like her
own son, but now he was gone
killed in a bike accident;
what could she do
to keep his memory alive?
By ALFRED MARTINEZ
And the children came, too 80 of them crowded
into her small house. Thus, the Children's Club
of Concord was born.
She quickly forged the policy of the club. There
would be no dues. She would teach safety. It was
as simple as that, with one problem: she had no
idea how to teach safety. So she wrote to every
possible source she could think of for material.
In less than a week she had stacks of folders,
books, and letters. She noted the most frequent
causes of bike accidents: riding double, riding
without brakes, riding without handgrips, and
holding on to moving vehicles.
In three weeks, the club grew to 200 members.
Marge poured her own money into it, and when u
neighboring merchant heard of this, he arranged
to have her speak before the Concord Lions Club.
The result: a check. The same thing happened
with the Kiwanis Club. Slowly, steadily, interest
awakened, and help moved in.
Marge taught bicycle safety by practical ex
perience as well as by the book. Although a heavy
set woman, she learned to ride a bicycle herself
and led her young charges on camping trips. She
made learning fun by letting the children partici
pate in parades as a unit. They learned to ride
unicycles built by her husband and formed drill
teams which have since won top awards.
But there were difficult times in the club's early
months. Adult interest occasionally waned, and
Marge often became discouraged. Just before one
meeting she had decided that it would be her
last; someone else could take over. But some
thing happened to change her mind.
DURING her talk on safety, she noticed a little
boy fidgeting in his chair. She tried to ig
nore him, but his twisting distracted her. At
recess, she asked the boy: "Jimmy, what on earth
is the matter with you?" The dark-eyed seven-year-old
replied wistfully: "Bicycle Lady, I'm
sitting on burns."
The story came out. The boy's cluthes had
caught fire while he was burning papers. A neigh
bor saw him and rolled him on the lawn, smother
ing the fire. But Jimmy had suffered some burns
and it hurt where he sat.
Marge was ashamed of herself for thinking of
quitting; instead, she wrote for literature on fire
safety, and added a new dimension to the club.
Thanks to little Jimmy, she also was given a
name that evening: the Bicycle Lady.
Have the results been worth all the effort?
Marge would be the first to say yes. In nine years,
hundreds of children have belonged to the club
and not one of them has met with a major acci
dent that could have been prevented by observing
safety rules.
1 ij.
COVER:
In this dramatic portrait of Carl Sand
burg, artist William A. Smith captures
the dignity of a beloved poet-historian.
A personal friend of Sandburg, Smith also
u-rotr the heart-warming profile on page i.
Family I
Weekly I
rrWrrtr. Mif ruhlittirr ' B
January 6, 1963
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