A Recap of The Eighth Annual Dinner: SVBC's Largest Yet!
A record breaking crowd of more than 400 people helped make SVBC’s Eighth Annual Dinner a wonderful, fun, and successful evening in support of a healthy community, environment and economy through bicycling in Silicon Valley.The evening kicked off with the reception – featuring music from Blues Fried Jazz and a silent auction – on the lovely Crowne Plaza patio. The silent auction included items ranging from bikes to craft beer packages and sailing trips. We can’t thank our donors enough!
Guests then made their way into the ballroom to enjoy an elegant meal followed by our live auction. Bidders enthusiastically competed for a Faraday bike, Hawaiian getaway, Paso Robles weekend escape, Utah vacation, a private ride with Megan Guarnier, and an InGamba luxury Portugal bike tour.Carl Guardino and Corinne Winter kept things lively as they led the paddle raise. Thanks to everyone who helped make the paddle raise wildly successful - we raised more than $30,000, including the matching gift by SVBC's Board of Directors and Executive Advisory Board. The funds raised will go towards supporting our El Camino Real bike lanes initiative.The Ellen Fletcher Volunteer Award went to Janet Lafleur. Janet has been and continues to be a vocal proponent for safe and comfortable bike facilities through her blog and her involvement in public planning processes, and she is the founder and superpower behind Bike to Shop Day. Janet serves as a role model for people who want to ride a bike without worrying about wearing lycra, changing clothes, or messing up their hair - her work has been invaluable!The 2015 Corporate Cycling Award was given to Google. Going above and beyond traditional notions of Corporate Social Responsibility or Transportation Management, Google researched and published its Bike Vision Plan, an unprecedented look at the stress levels bicyclists in northern Santa Clara County face and a suite of infrastructure treatments to make the roads leading in and out of North Bayshore truly accessible to every person on a bike, from ages 8 to 80.Bruce Hildenbrand took the stage to interview Megan Guarnier, two-time American national road champion, world champion, and Rio 2016 Olympics U.S. team member. After some great stories shared, they were joined by 2-time Olympic competitor Christine Thorburn for more questions as they concluded the evening.To see more photos of the evening, click here.Thanks to the support of our sponsors, local clubs, industry leaders, and – of course – all of our wonderful guests for making it a truly great evening in support of the Silicon Valley bicycling community!
