Lack of volunteers prompts cancellation of East Lyme Bike, Hike and BBQ event
East Lyme — The town’s annual cycling fundraiser for nonprofit organizations supporting open space and historical homes, known as the East Lyme Bike, Hike and BBQ, will not take place this year due to a lack of volunteers needed to organize the event, Parks and Recreation Director David Putnam said Tuesday.
“It was tough to recruit enough volunteers and it was something that fell through the cracks,” Putnam said by phone. “It was tough to get everyone on the same page. It’s a pretty labor-intensive program.”
The event, which started in 2016, benefitted the East Lyme Historical Society, the Friends of the Samuel Smith Farmstead, the Friends of the Brookside Farm Museum (formerly the Smith-Harris House) and the East Lyme Land Trust and featured hiking and bike routes of differing lengths and difficulty around the region. The event would have celebrated its fourth year this month.
Since 2016, the event had grown each year, according to reporting by The Day, and had drawn hundreds of participants.
Putnam had not immediately responded to an email Wednesday clarifying whether the event would continue next year.
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