Winter 2020 Updates!

As the cycling season has wound down and the dark days of winter are upon us, many Bellas like to continue the friendships and camaraderie they’ve developed over the past year. We invite our members to organize events for Bellas: these can be as simple as a movie night, wine tasting, dinner at a new restaurant, or as energetic as snowshoeing, downhill and x-c skiing (despite our wild and weird winter weather making it a little difficult to plan ski and snowshoe outings). If you are interested in organizing an event but need some help, please contact [email protected].

Membership Update:

We currently have 167 members. Twenty-five of these members are new for the 2020 season, and we have an 87% return from 2019!

Bella Annual Holiday Party: 

Many thanks to the Special Events Committee of Kelly O’Neill, Connie Axelrod and Kelly Von Ruden for helping to make this event, once again, a great success. And a special shout out to Susanita Hicks and Kelly Von Ruden for the excellent video capturing the best moments of the past year.

What’s New for 2020:

Our Social Events and Hospitality Committee has been busy planning our 2020 event calendar.  *** For detailed information on all Bella events, please visit the Bend Bella Cyclists MeetUp site:  https://www.meetup.com/Bend-Bella-Cyclists-Meetup/  New this year is the Chili Cook Off. This will be held in February. Bellas are invited to bring their favorite chili recipe and enter the contest to win a prize. You don’t have a favorite recipe, or just don’t want to cook? No problem! We invite you to bring a side, bread, or dessert. Just come, meet new members and get reacquainted with old friends.

The Bend Bella Cyclists will kick off their 2020 activity season a bit differently this year. Our get-together, formerly known as the Kick-Off meeting, is now called The Spring Fling and will be held in April. The Spring Fling, open only to current members, will be more of a party atmosphere than a meeting. The ExComm will give a brief overview of plans for the 2020 season, but the goal is to get together as we start the warmer weather activities. Come, renew friendships and meet new members!

Bellas on the Mend:

The Bellas are an active, adventurous group. The downside is that injuries happen. OK, so we’re injured. Even though our Bella activities are on hold for a period of time, we will recover, and we can have fun in our recovery. Watch for Bellas on the Mend events on MeetUp. Come on out, meet new people, join with and support those recovering and have fun doing so. Open to all Bellas, injured or not!

Recurring Monthly Events:

The Bellas Executive Committee (ExComm) holds a monthly meeting. This meeting is open to all interested members. We invite you to come see what the Bellas are all about. The ExComm discusses plans for the upcoming season and is always seeking interested members to volunteer for our committees. Come to a meeting and see if any committee interests you. Any and all input, and especially new ideas, are welcome.

Are you looking for a fun way to enjoy books, catch up with friends and meet new people? The Bella monthly Book Club is a great place to start. There is nothing better than curling up with a good book. Most of us come to book club to escape stress and reality. If somebody didn’t have time to finish, that’s okay. This isn’t high school. It’s perfectly acceptable to sit, nibble and listen. Many members come, occasionally, just for friendship. Join us!

MeetUp:

The Bellas will no longer send out rosters with member’s contact information. To contact Bella members privately on MeetUp:

• Sign into your Bella MeetUp account
• On the Home page, select ‘Members’ (found beneath the picture)
• In the ‘Search Members’ space, type in the member’s name (you can just type in the first
  name )
• When you’ve found the member you’re looking for, click on the ‘conversation bubble’ to the right of their name
• A new page will open up with ‘New Conversation’
  – Type in your message
  – Don’t forget to press ‘send’
  – This message is PRIVATE: just between the two of you.

As a reminder, all events can be found on MeetUp. To receive email updates of Bella MeetUp events:

• Sign into your Bella MeetUp account
• Click on your profile picture (upper right corner)
• Choose ‘settings’
• Choose ‘email updates’ (left side, beneath ‘general’)
• Click ‘email updates ON’.
  – You can also choose ‘messages’ ON, – this way other members can send you a private message
  – You can also choose ‘replies to my comments’ ON – this way you can see if someone replies to a comment you’ve made about a particular MeetUp event.