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The eyes of the children at Head Start in Brundidge were almost as wide as thier smiles.

One brightly colored bicycle is reason for any youngster to smile – but 100 bikes!  The smiles were back to their ears.

Onick and Heather Lewis were the Santa Clauses of the day but the real reason for the amazing gifts was their little son, Owen.

Last April 28, Heather and Onick lost their two-and-a-half-year-old son, unexpectedly to Lymphocytic Myocarditis.

Both are professors at Troy University and the outpouring of support was overwhelming from the Troy community.

“Onick and I wanted to find some way to express our appreciation for the caring and support that we received during that very difficult time,” Heather said. “Onick is an avid cyclist and Owen loved riding his balance bike. He called their bikes ‘cool bikes’ so we realized we could express our appreciation to the community through O’s Cool Bike Foundation.”

The foundation was organized with the purpose of providing balance bikes to young children within the seven-county area.

Already, the memorial foundation for Owen Lewis is bringing smiles and “balance” to youngsters here in Pike County.

Onick and Heather Lewis were at Brundidge Head Start Center Friday to surprise the youngsters with the special gift of 100 Radio Flyer balance bikes and helmets.

Onick explained that balance bikes are training bikes without wheels.

Children “ride” the bikes by moving their feet in a shuffle-walking movement.

Onick said balance bikes are one of the best tools for helping young children learn balance and coordination.

Both are important for injury prevention.

Wanda Moultry, Head Start Brundidge Center director, expressed appreciation to Onick and Heather Lewis for the donation of 100 bikes and for their interest in and support of young children here in Pike County and beyond.

Owen’s love of bikes and his influence will be realized through O’s Cool Bike Foundation for many years to come, Moultry said.

The foundation will continue its efforts to share Owen’s love of bikes and the gifting of balance bikes to young children in Dale and Coffee counties in weeks ahead. Four additional counties will receive balance bike donations from “O’s Cool Bike Foundation.”

OCAP- Pike County, Guardian Credit Union and six Troy University teams contributed to “O’s Cool Bike Foundation” and were present for the bike presentation at Head Start in Brundidge.