Wednesday, May 8, 2013

About

By Angela Connolly --
Francis William Warnock
Frank Warnock, Chair of 1st State BIKES, has been bicycling since he was old enough to deliver newspapers and ride to elementary school. Growing up in Radburn, NJ, he joined the Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey in 1984 and began leading weekend rides and multi-day tours while still a teenager. He went on to serve as Chair of the club's Legislative Action Committee during the early 1990s, and by the mid-90s, was chairing some of the club's major events and rides.

Frank relocated to the Newark DE area in 1996, and immediately joined the White Clay Bicycle Club where he again started volunteering and leading rides. In 1999, he went on to establish WCBC's Shore Fire Century, and continued to chair/co-chair the event through 2003. In 2006, he began attending meetings of Bike Delaware to address statewide advocacy issues, and constructed their first website in 2009. As an advocate, he enjoys a number of successes, which include State DOT policy and guideline reforms in the interest of bicycle and pedestrian safety. Not only does Frank bike to work almost every day, but he has a penchant for mentoring others, and it was this dedication that earned him Delaware's Commuter of the Year award in 2010. He chose not to renew his position on Bike Delaware's Board as of January 2013, and instead took a position as a lead mechanic and board member at the Newark Bike Project through mid-2014. His last and final effort with bicycle advocacy was the creation of this blog, 1st State BIKES, to address road safety and advocacy that are of non-importance to Bike Delaware.

By August of 2015, Frank was co-founder of Save The Orphanage Property (STOP), an organization dedicated to saving Ogletown's last remaining large tract of open space, wetlands, and critical habitat area. With hundreds of followers and the media spotlight, it was quickly recognized as one of the most successful land use causes in the State. Frank, along with other land use advocates, then went on to advocate at the State level for dedicated open space funding in the 2016 Bond Bill, and to have open space included as a plank in the Democratic Party's platform. On November 20, 2016, Frank accepted the nomination to a board position with the Coalition for Natural Stream Valleys, the organization mainly responsible for the acquisition and creation of White Clay Creek State Park, among others. Unfortunately, the STOP campaign was defeated under entrenched govt corruption. Soon after, Frank moved on from his position with CFNSV.

Today, Frank is working on local Advocacy causes that include walking and bicycling safety, but also Historical Preservation. Among his other blogs is Ogletown Resilience. At this time, he is working toward Ogletown as a place worth caring about, with the passing of its founder 250 years ago on Dec 23, 2021. The town's history and ongoing advocacy is steadily updated on the town's Wikipedia page.

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