When we think of “summer jobs,” images of young people working as lifeguards, sandwich-makers, bike mechanics and camp counselors come to mind.
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I’ve been a bike shop mechanic. I have also worked as a counselor/instructor at a day and a sleep-away camp. At both, I worked with teenagers on their poems, stories and other writings, and helped to compile a magazine and yearbook. Although I enjoyed the work, after my sleep-away camp experience I made a vow—which I’ve kept through the ensuing decades—that I would never again live on my job site.
Once I started college teaching (Hey, if I can do it, so can you!), “summer job” became “summer work” and meant teaching a class or two.
Now I have learned about a new kind of summer job: one I might’ve wanted when I was young (which, as I like to tell young people, I once was, believe it or not). Some might say it’s an “only in Portland” position.
WashCl Bikes, a community bike shop in Hillsboro, Oregon is, in many ways like New York’s Recycle-a-Bicycle and other “community “ bike shops. It “recycles” bikes that might otherwise have ended up in landfills and sells them, alongside helmets, lights, locks and other necessities for transportation cycling. Washco also does repairs and conducts repair classes.
The new summer position, however, isn’t as a mechanic, salesperson or workshop instructor. As it turns out, Washco runs SaddleUp. It’s not strictly a bike camp: traditional summer camp activities like arts and crafts are included. Campers reach those activities, held on different sites, by bicycle. Those rides, along with rides in the community and on trails, are used to teach bike skills, safety and etiquette.
Full- and part-time positions are available at “competitive”pay. WashCo is accepting applications now.
