For the past 15 years, Hollywood neighborhood resident Lily Karabaic has woken up around 4:00 am on the last Friday of every month. Like you, the first thing she does is make coffee. Unlike you, she makes 42 cups. And then she straps a percolator, a few dozen donuts (a vegan sampler from Doe Donuts), a bunch of mugs, and sometimes even pancake mix (gluten free if you choose) or freshly baked muffins onto her bike trailer and heads out to stand on a bridge and gives it away to anyone who passes by.
Why? Because Lily is a dedicated volunteer of Breakfast on the Bridges, the cherished Portland tradition that celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.
The event means so much to Lily that every time she gets a new job she makes sure to negotiate for Fridays off.
I met Lily at her apartment last Friday morning around 6:30 am so we could ride together to the Tilikum Crossing for the birthday B on B. When I showed up, there was spilled coffee on the counter and she and her spouse Aaron Parecki were fussing with straps in her small living room, trying to get several boxes secured onto a Burley Travoy trailer.
Once we were all ready to roll, we took the lane on Northeast Sandy Blvd while drivers sped past and my camera rolled.
“It’s more about community-building, where we happen to have coffee,” Lily explained. “We use it as a tool for community building and connecting. People that ride bikes, scooters, people that walk, the morning runners on the waterfront and Esplanade — I think we spend a lot of time going past each other in those spaces. B on B is a meeting place.”
And for as many people who see this unexpected display of public hospitality and altruism for the first time and are taken aback, there are just as many regulars.
“I think it’s one of the foundational pieces of bike culture in Portland,” Lily said. Is that what keeps her getting out of bed so early every Friday morning? To keep the tradition alive? “Now [that it’s been 20 years] we feel like we can’t [stop]. You don’t want to be the one who ended B on B.”
Watch the full interview above or on YouTube (thanks to Aaron Parecki for shots of us riding together and the drone footage).
- See our TikTok for another look at this story.
- Breakfast on the Bridges on Instagram
I actually make 84 cups, usually! 42 cups is just the first round. I do get to go back to sleep while the first batch brews. If I didn’t insist on wearing ridiculously over-the-top themed outfits, I could probably sleep a little longer.
Thanks for a fun on-bike interview in the early morning hours, Jonathan! If people are interested in throwing us a few $$ for pancake supplies and airpots as we start serving on the Blumenauer next month, they can follow the donation link from our website or instagram. If they’re interested in volunteering to be part of the BONB crew, send an email to our listserv at bonb@lists.riseup.net
But the best thing you can do is stop by on your commute (or fake commute) on the last Fridays! We’d love to see your smiling faces.
I’m one of the “Breakfast Champions” and yes, I’m pretty damn proud of my BonB Champion mug!
Love to see y’all biking down sandy and taking a lane. I think I would be too scared to do that
Even though I was commuting downtown for many years, BotB was always too early for me.
Go Lily go!
That’s absolutely my favorite outfit. I can’t imagine having a bad day while wearing that. It looks like so much fun. I’m going to have to re-imagine my bike wardrobe. Thanks for the fun energy, volunteering and good cheer!
I gotta ask…when will PBoT / ODoT transportation standard plans include a space for BonB?! at all bike bridgeheads …which would also include a secure vault with 120v power and potable water?
Aloha Captain Pastry! (And thanks for the great thank you art card + BonB sticker for my small donation.)