This might not be 9-year-old Billy Dean’s first bike, but he’s never been more excited to cruise around on a new set of wheels.
“I think it’s the best bike I’ve ever had,” he said. “It has a kickstand, and I’ve never, ever had a kickstand.”
Billy is one of 21 kids who received bikes through the Redmond-based Starlight Foundation on Wednesday. The kids or their siblings have been diagnosed with serious illnesses.
Executives of Terex Aerial Work Platforms, a manufacturer of heavy equipment headquartered in Redmond, gathered from around the world to assemble bikes in a team-building exercise at the company’s yearly kickoff conference.
Billy and his sister both received bikes. Their mother, Patty, said she’s very thankful as the two kids have to sit through many doctors’ appointments for their younger brother, who has a disease where food attacks his body.
“I was so excited – the bikes they have are thrashed,” Patty Dean said. “It’s very nice that (Terex) is reaching out to the consumers that buy their products.”
The executives spent an hour assembling the bikes and were in for a surprise when they found out they would get to personally meet the families and give away the bikes. But before the grand finale, the employees underwent a rather elaborate assembly competition.
It started with trivia questions – the conference’s 78 executives broke into teams, and each had to get 27 correct answers to earn enough tokens to “buy” the unassembled bikes. Once built, the bikes had to pass inspection before the teams could decorate them.
“We have girls, all of us, so we know what is needed,” said Lars Raagaard, who works in Denmark as manager for the Scandinavian division. His team tied balloons to the bike’s handlebars and neatly wove streamers through the spokes and frame.
Other teams went for pipe cleaners, twisting and turning them every which way to form a pattern.
“I’m in finance, and we’re generally not allowed to be creative,” joked Ron Lance, a finance director from North Carolina, as he tied pipe cleaners to the back wheel of a pink and purple pastel-colored bike.
Next, the executives donned kid-sized helmets and blindfolds to ride through an obstacle course before giving a 30-second marketing pitch to promote their creations.
Some rapped, some sang, and one executive dropped into the splits after pulling off dance moves that would make even Napoleon Dynamite jealous.
An event organizer then spoke about the significance of receiving his first childhood bike. Sridher Sukumaran, vice president of human resources in Redmond, grew up in a modest family in India where bikes cost 500 rupees, the equivalent of $10. He used to look out the window and see the neighbor kids ride by his house. He tried to borrow their bikes as often as he could, always wishing for one of his own.
“At that age, you don’t understand all the pressures your parents are going through,” he said.
Then one day, his parents surprised him by bringing home a bike. He couldn’t believe it, and neither could the Starlight kids as they entered the assembly room and ran toward their gifts.
One of the executives helped push 6-year-old Hayden Harbrige around the room on her new bike, making sure she didn’t fall as she is just learning how to ride without training wheels.
“I think it’s very nice,” said her sister with a big smile as she saw Hayden admiring her bike. “I think she is very lucky for sure.”
