Article by: Donna Mack
The City of Goodview continues to add amenities to their City parks. Donna Mack, who serves the City of Goodview CEDA contract authored a grant application to Winona County Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) and was awarded a $5,500 grant. SHIP is a state-based program that works at the local level to support healthier communities by expanding opportunities for active living, healthy eating and tobacco-free living. The funds were used to purchase three bike repair stations and two bike racks to be placed in various parks throughout the City.
Michael LaCanne Memorial Park, We Valley Park and the Memorial Park will be the recipients of the new equipment. Due to circumstances with COVID-19 which created a late shipment from the manufacturer, the City will do the installations in early spring of 2021.
The hope is the three repair stations with air pumps will encourage adults and children to keep their bicycles in good repair, including inflated tires for safety purposes. The parks will provide a convenient spot to put air in a tire or adjust brakes and derailleurs that may have become misaligned. The two bike racks are important for a safe place to park a bicycle for practical purposes.
The goal is to appeal to children and adults to bike to the Goodview parks to provide safe and attractive places for individuals and families to exercise and play. Parks provide low or no-cost recreation and sufficiently engages residents in activities to improve health.
“Parks provide a great benefit to our residents and tourists. Our goal is to have our parks safe and health friendly, to bring families together, and make our City and neighborhoods attractive places to live and work. We are proud of our City parks and appreciate Winona County SHIP for assisting us to maximize additional benefits to our parks”, stated Dan Matejka, Goodview City Administrator.
A research report written by the University of Minnesota and published by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2016 made clear the health benefits of bicycling to Minnesotans. The report found that bicycling can significantly lower the odds of becoming obese and/or developing high blood pressure, both of which help to lower medical costs.
