Hazlet Bicycle Parade Makes The Cover Of Statewide Magazine

HAZLET, N.J.— Hazlet Township's idea to welcome spring in the first post-COVID days of 2021 with a town-wide bicycle parade is the cover story in the June issue of NJ Municipalities magazine.

The town's first "Bike with a Bunny" event in 2021 was such a success it's become an annual event - and is now featured in the magazine.

The New Jersey League of Municipalities publishes the magazine and it is read by local officials across the state, said township Public Information Officer Christine Johnson.

Johnson wrote the article for the magazine, which featured photos of the spring 2021 event on the cover and inside.

"The idea for the springtime group bike ride came out of the winter of 2020, when the pandemic kept children at home in virtual school, isolated from one another to prevent spread
of COVID-19," Johnson wrote in the article.

Hazlet’s Recreation Advisory Committee met monthly via Zoom, "optimistically talking about the day they could hold in-person events again," the article said.

“We wanted our first event in 2021 to be something the kids could look forward to,” Chris McManus, the committee’s president at the time, and now the director of Hazlet Recreation, said in the article.

The article describes how the Bike with a Bunny event was developed by volunteer residents with pandemic restrictions in mind and quickly developed into a joyful, energetic exit from long days of social isolation and winter blues, Johnson said in a press statement on the township website.

Now the spring event has become an annual tradition, she added, with one that was held in April 2022.

And safety precautions are key. For example, the local Boy Scouts troop were on hand to help with repairs. The event route of over 4 miles followed Middle Road from Airport Plaza to Veterans' Park and was closed off to traffic by Monmouth County officials. Police lined the route along the way. The Fire Department led the parade for extra safety and alerting of residents, and the rear of the parade was spotted by First Aid squads, Johnson said.

The official publication of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, NJ Municipalities magazine serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on municipal affairs, new initiatives and changing legislation for public officials in New Jersey.