Only when most people arrived by bike could you have a parking area that actually contributes to the pre-event mingling.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

“The Alice Awards are cool again,” said an attendee at Friday night’s Alice Awards gala hosted by The Street Trust.

This year’s Alice Award winners: William Henderson and Leah Benson.

The annual gathering has been a staple for many years; a date circled on the calendar of agency staffers, activists, electeds, industry leaders, and civic do-gooders. But there have been times in recent years when the event seemed to have lost its mojo. It started when the pendulum swung too far away from honoring advocates and too close to raising money. Small decisions like announcing winners weeks before the event in hopes it would lead to more ticket sales (if you know you’re going to win you want to make sure your friends/family are there to see it right?); not allowing winners to make speeches; and an overwhelming number of auction items (and the time — and blaring auctioneer — needed to sell them all), sapped the fun away.
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Editor’s note: Gal by Bike columnist Kate Johnson has been a local bike commuter and biking advocate for years, but had never been to The Street Trust’s annual Alice B. Toeclips awards gala until Friday. Here’s her take.

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BTA Board Chair Justin Yuen at last year’s Alice Awards.
(Photos: J Maus/BikePortland)

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (soon to be known as The Street Trust) is getting ready for its biggest fundraiser of the year: The Alice Awards and auction.

The event happens Saturday night in north Portland. Beyond raising money for the organization’s advocacy work, the Alice Awards are a time to honor people in the community who are going above and beyond to “open minds and roads to bicycling” (as the inscription on the award reads).

Included with the $150 ticket this year is the new Encore after-party which will let local biking leaders and their dates dance well into the night while staying cozy around a bonfire. If you stay for the party you’ll also get first peek at the BTA’s new “Street Trust” logo.

Before the fun and fundraising starts, let’s take a look at this year’s four Alice Award winners…
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BTA Board Chair Justin Yuen makes the main point of the night.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Last night was the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s 25th anniversary celebration and Alice Awards gala at the Portland Art Museum.
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The Rosewood Initiative, a community development organization in east Portland, is one of this year’s winners.
(Photo courtesy Rosewood Initiative via the BTA)

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance has just announced their latest round of heroic bike advocates who have earned Alice Awards.
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The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has announced this year’s crop of Alice Award winners. The awards, which debuted in 1995, are meant to put a spotlight on people and organizations “who have worked to make bicycling better in Oregon.” And new this year are a crop of ‘People’s Choice’ candidates that will be chosen online via the BTA’s Facebook page.

The Alice Award winners are: Kristin Dahl, Jenna Stanke, and the Regence Bike Commute Team. This year’s Emerging Leader Award goes to Briana Orr and the Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award has been given to Mike Cosgrove. According to the BTA each winner has, ” truly made an investment here in Oregon for healthier communities, for economic development, and for making Oregon a better place to live and ride.” (The theme of this year’s Alice Awards are “Investing in the Movement.”)

The People’s Choice Award will got to one of these three businesses: Hopworks Urban Brewery, New Relic, or VeloCult Bike Shop & Tavern.
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Alice Award winners Kristen Warren (L) and Alison
Hill Graves with former Bike Gallery owner
Jay Graves and the BTA’s Rob Sadowsky.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

On Saturday night, the stars of bike advocacy from around the region aligned in northwest Portland for the 18th annual Alice Awards benefit auction. Known as “Alice,” it’s the largest fundraising event of the year for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). With hundreds of people in attendance (each of whom paid $125 to be there), the night is full of fun, socializing, and shopping for a good cause.

With a nod toward celebrating the 50,000th grade school student to receive the BTA’s Bicycle Safety Education program, this year’s theme was “Tomorrow’s riders start today.” The main events of the night were the live auction, the crowning of award winners, and a nod to one very special bike advocate.

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The BTA’s Alice Awards event isn’t until May 4th; but the winners have already been announced. See the press release below for details:

March 14th, 2013 – Portland, Oregon – The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is excited to announce the winners of the 2013 Alice Awards & Auction, to be held on May 4th. This is the 18th year the BTA will honor select Oregon citizens for their work to make bicycling safe, more convenient, and more accessible.

As part of the BTA’s celebration around reaching the 50,000th student with bicycle safety curriculum, awardees were selected based on their efforts to make the nation, Oregon, and Portland a better place for bicycling.

The winners of the 2013 Alice Awards are:

US Rep. Peter DeFazio – Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Alison Hill Graves – Alice Award Winner

Kristin Warren – Alice Award Winner

The BTA will also honor Jay Graves for his contributions to the community at the Alice Awards on May 4th. Graves has previously been the recipient of both an Alice Award and a Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award. As Graves steps away from his role at Bike Gallery, the BTA is excited to thank him once again for his hard work and dedication to bicycling over the years.

US Rep. Peter DeFazio – Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Peter DeFazio is a stalwart supporter of bicycling and Safe Routes to School. In the past year he stood as the only member of congress to speak out in support of Safe Routes to School from the committee floor. He works hard to build better transportation policy and increased funding for active transportation.

In Washington DC, he amplifies the voice of people who ride bicycles and helps raise important issues that matter to people here in Oregon. Historically, he’s also helped bring increased funding for projects to the state.

Alison Hill Graves – Alice Award Winner

Alison Hill Graves built a new era for the Community Cycling Center and helped usher in a new way of thinking around equity and inclusion for the bicycle movement, both in Portland and nationally.

She began working for the CCC in 2006 and has overseen many successes at the organization, including the opening of the New Columbia Bike Repair Hub in 2012.

Kristen Warren – Alice Award Winner

Kristen Warren incorporates bicycle safety education into her health curriculum at Gresham High School, making her the first Gresham-Barlow teacher to do so in recent years.

Her teaching at Gresham High School means young adult students will learn how to ride bicycles safely and legally. Her work unlocks the environmental, financial, and health benefits of bicycling for students and families in the Gresham area.