Disc golf and bikes lead to change in Battle Creek

Chad and Niaomi Curtis' business plan didn't include a commitment to stay in Battle Creek, the city where they were born and raised.

 

After watching the ongoing exodus from Battle Creek of people they grew up with and those who came after them, however, the couple decided to stay and make it their business to reverse the city's youth drain. Through their bicycle shop and passion for Disc Golf they are trying to give young people reasons to stay.

 

"Growing up in Battle Creek, not just the people we knew but (we) too would ask 'what is there to do here?'" Chad Curtis says. "We decided to stick around Battle Creek and really commit ourselves to being a positive change here."

 

These efforts began 11 years ago when the couple bought Getaway Sports, a bicycle shop on Capital Avenue where Chad had worked as a teenager. The shop has become a gathering place for local middle school and high school students who are involved with "Diff'rent Spokes," a program developed by Niaomi that gives the city's younger residents opportunities to learn job skills in a positive atmosphere.
 

Since 2012 when Diff'rent Spokes was introduced, on Saturday afternoons between two and four teens show up and learn how to repair damaged bicycles donated to the program.

 

Niaomi, who is studying Social Work at Spring Arbor College, says she and her husband had talked to each other about ways they could help kids in the community through bikes.

 

"We get a lot of kids coming through the door here," she says while standing near a glass case in the store. "We collect donated bikes from people no matter what shape they're in and the kids come in every week to learn about bicycle repair. The goal with the bikes they repair is we'll donate them to someone in the community who needs a bike. We sell some bikes at a low cost in the community to raise money for Diff'rent Spokes."

 

A grant from the Battle Creek Community Foundation helps pay for bicycle parts for the program and Carlson Property Management donates money for lunches to feed the student volunteers while they work.  In addition to the nuts and bolts of Different Spokes, Chad says the students get a taste of what it's like to work and be responsible for showing up on time and following through on a task.

 

The young people also are exposed to the value of community service that can be seen in at a recent helmet-fitting event at a neighborhood block party. More than 60 donated helmets were given away.

 

"They need a positive place to spend time and a positive environment to be in," Niaomi says. "They learn problem-solving skills and safety and giving back."

 

The program has led to the planning of a bike trail at Irving Park where Chad helped to design and establish the city's second Disc Golf course. Members of the Bike Park Coalition will use recycled materials such as old telephone poles and broken concrete to create obstacles along the bike trail.

 

"We approached the city and they liked what we were talking about," Chad says. "We want to make some improvements to the park outside of disc golf and we want to start a bike trail out there too."

 

At the age of 42, Chad says he's old compared to many of the individuals who use the Disc Golf courses and will use the bike trail. In 2006 he began the design for the city's first Disc Golf course at Fort Custer. In 2009, a group calling itself the Irving Park Coalition, of which he is a member, opened a Disc Golf course there. A third course recently opened at Leila Arboretum.

 

Chad has played more than 200 courses throughout the country since being introduced to the sport by his younger brother in 1998.

 

He says courses are typically located on land that no one wants to use for other development. The Irving Park course cost between $10,000 and $12,000 to construct and the Leila Arboretum course cost close to $17,000. Funding for the courses has come from the Battle Creek Community Foundation, businesses, and individuals.

 

Hundreds of hours put in by thousands of people helped to make the courses a reality. Volunteers also are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the courses.

 

"It's free to play," Chad says. "We continue holding fundraising events and a number of businesses and individuals are willing to sponsor holes."

 

Support for the city's Disc Golf movement was boosted after it played host in 2008 to the World Championship of Disc Golf.  

 

"We had more than 900 competitors  and the city saw how popular it was," Chad says.

 

The courses not only bring people into the community, they also help redefine the areas of the city in which they're located.

 

Since the opening of the Irving Park course, that area of town has gone from a place where drug deals and fights were frequent occurrences to a place where families come with their children to enjoy Disc Golf and picnics.

 

"A number of police officers have said they really like what's going on there and the calls for service they get now are for overflowing garbage cans or the need for a port-a-john," Chad says.

 

The Arboretum has struggled in recent years with a reputation for being a gathering spot for suspicious activity.  Niaomi says she thinks the success of Irving Park has shown city leaders what's possible.  Although not as much as a devotee of Disc Golf as her husband, she says she likes being able to be outdoors and active.

 

The beauty of the sport, Chad says, is that anybody can play it.

 

"This is something you could do on your own or in smaller groups and you don't have to travel to South Haven to do it," he says. "This is a draw for colleges and it's something young people like to do.

 

"This is a way for people to get to know their neighbors and develop a sense of community."

 

For the Curtises the work they are doing is not about getting rich, it's about reinventing their hometown's image.

 

"Nobody opens a business of this size to make money," Chad says of Getaway Sports. "Right now we really want to retain young people and the opportunities we have.

 

"If you're a ski bumb you go to Lake Tahoe, if you like Disc Golf you come to Battle Creek."