Had a different city around it when it was planted in 2004, the plane tree which today stands out on the side of the Mella cycle path, 300 meters north of the intersection with Via Milano. There was still a lot to do, then, to honor thecommitment of the man to whom it was dedicated, Corrado Ponzanelliamong the founders of the Association in 1989 Bike friends, Brescia section of the Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation (Fiab), who died in 2003 after years of presidency and projects for two-wheeled mobility. He left a void, filled by his companions with kilometers on the pedals in the initiatives promoted over twenty years and by the efforts to make Brescia a bike-friendly city.
The plaque in memory of Corrado Ponzanelli along the Mella cycle path – Photo © www.giornaledibrescia.it
Efforts that have not yet been exhausted, but that they bore fruit: to celebrate them, celebrate the thirty-fifth birthday of the association and remember its founder, last Monday, World Bicycle Daythe Friends of the bike gathered under the «Corrado’s plane tree» after a ride from Piazza Loggia: a ceremony with around fifty associates, friends and relatives of Ponzanelli (including his children), in whose honor a plaque was placed under “his” tree.
The placing of the plaque for Corrado Ponzanelli under the plane tree – Photo © www.giornaledibrescia.it
«Fiab’s 35 candles are an index of how Corrado’s ideas had great potential – said the president of Amici della bici, Marco Zani -. I am very grateful to him and the other founders: visionaries who had an idea about mobility and a philosophy of life that differed from the prevailing one.” Since then Fiab Brescia, today with 530 registeredhas only grown: «It is the fourth section for members in Italy», explained Zani.
The ride for the 35 years of Fiab Brescia, in Piazza Loggia – Photo © www.giornaledibrescia.it
An association that also knows how to be a positive incentive for bicycle policies: «More and more, also thanks to your work, we must push towards this medium», said the Environment Councilor of the Municipality of Brescia Camilla Bianchi. Also present at the plane tree were Mobility Councilor Federico Manzoni and Ettore Brunelli, his counterpart in 2004: «Fiab is a precious reality – said the first –, they have always encouraged us to keep attention high on cycling: we are there let yourself be influenced, the works we have launched aim to create a city that is increasingly suitable for two wheels”.
