Bike For Beck

A couple photos from the Beck Center's 80th Birthday Party and 3rd Bike for Beck. All photos are the property of the Lakewood Observer, Inc.©2014

(click photo to enlarge)

  • Byt the 9am start families were already leaving the Beck on their Bike routes, designed to beng them back for the cake cutting.

  • Lakewood's newest cyclery Beat Cycle was there to help tune up bikes.

  • Early morning risers signing up for Bike routes.

  • The 250lb popcorn 80th Birthday Cake from Campbell's Sweets is flanked by President and CEO of the Beck Center, Cindy Einhouse, the organizer for this event, Jillian Driscoll, and Jason Weiner, Director of Development at the Beck. (This is a photo of the complete cake._

  • OK fancy murals and signage, done, lets get this going!

  • Early morning music for the families.

  • I turn to the food trucks, looking forward to a delicious crepe, when syddenly I hear druming, not just drumming, but wild ass jungle drumming, the kind of drumming that got Gene Krupa in trouble, where is it coming from?

  • I look over to the children's drum circle, and low and behold the mad drummer...

  • is none other than Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready.

  • Unicyclists from Emerson take a bow.

  • and the crazy druming continues...

  • Now I am not a big fan of drum solos, having lived through the In-A-Gada-Davida phase of rock and rock. But Thomas rocked the place.

  • Meanwhile over on the northern drumming circle things are just getting going.

  • Somehow they got that 250lb cake from Campbell's Sweets outside.

  • Thomas getting ready to Bike From The Beck, to Taste of Lakewood stops for a picture with Ward 2 County Councilman Dale Miller.

  • Dale, immediately sits down, gets comfortable and stars at the cake. Seriously, it was pretty big.

  • At high noon, Cindy gave a great little recap about how the Beck Center originally opened as Lakewood Little Theater on that spot, and it has grown to theater, professional theater, and arts classes for kids by the thousands. Seriously, if you think what was going on when Cindy started, Lakewood should be very grateful that not just a Lakewoodite, but Cindy Einhouse is at the helm.

  • The big talk amongst those of us there, was "I hope they have a chain saw, it looks pretty dense."

  • But when the time came, it actually cut pretty easily.

  • Soon others joined in...

  • ... but you had to know in a cake that sise, a saw was coming out sooner or later.

  • And saw away they did.

  • Untill all of the popcornballs from inside spilled out to be scooped up by the parents, for the kids I am sure.

  • Well they did saw it up, so chocolate for them! It was a fun birthday bash.

  • Lakewood's Super Oldies Band, Fireside waits to go on stage.

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