The Coffee Company is accepting donated bicycles to be decorated and displayed during the Tweetsie Trail Celebration Sept. 5. They will be distributed to each downtown business to beautify Elk Avenue and to creatively promote the spirit of bicycling.
Used bikes may be delivered directly to The Coffee Company at 444 E. Elk Ave. in Elizabethton. The Downtown Business Association hopes to receive all donations before August 29th so that companies have time to personalize their bikes.
“We have to make downtown presentable and beautiful and get everybody excited about using the trail here in Elizabethton and welcoming everybody in from Johnson City,” said Coffee Company General Manager Will Hedrick.
He hopes to have a bike for each business downtown to paint and decorate.
“The concept is to get the whole street through here decorated and to get everybody involved,” Hedrick said.
The Tweetsie Trail Celebration, Treasure Trip and Treasure Ride are excellent opportunities for local businesses to show off their community pride by participating in the bicycle beautification. Not only does it demonstrate Elizabethton’s resourcefulness, it is a symbol of the city’s ability to transform vintage bikes into beauties and unused tracks into trails. Many antique bikes around town are already being used as planters.
The trail makes it possible for people to commute between Johnson City and Elizabethton along a scenic route, encouraging physical activity and appreciation of the region’s natural resources.
“We want to encourage biking in the community and to bring people in regionally —not just on the 5th, but going forward also.”