Parents, siblings and other relatives have plenty of activities to participate in this coming family weekend, including the annual Fall Art Tour on Saturday. This year, however, the Fall Art Tour is introducing bikes in addition to the usual six coach buses.

Exhibition Program Manager Susan Focke said incorporating bikes into the tour will make it more sustainable.

“The reason we decided to do it is because ACTC is one of the sponsors of the fall art tour, and their theme has been sustainability for the last couple years so we were trying to figure out how we can bring that into the tour,” Focke said. “Plus this is during family weekend, so we thought this would be a fun thing to do for the families.”

Six other universities that are participating in the tour are also providing bikes as an alternative to riding the bus, but St. Thomas is “the only college where you don’t have to pay for your bike thanks to BEAST,” Focke said.

BEAST stands for Bicycle Enthusiasts at St. Thomas. Club President Matt Ghiloni said BEAST will provide 20 bikes for students and their families. The bikes can be checked out using the student’s St. Thomas ID. BEAST will also supply helmets and bike locks for the bikers.

“If it’s nice out, I’m expecting all 20 bikes to be checked out,” Ghiloni says. “If it ends up raining, there will still be bikes available, but we obviously won’t be planning for as many people.”

Senior Linda Geng said she thinks it is a great idea to incorporate bikes into the tour.

“It’s a good way to be sustainable and enjoy the weather,” Geng said. “Being outside will make people more energetic because sitting on a bus can make people lazy and you don’t get the full experience of being outside.”

Senior Trista Miller said, “It seems like the campus is trying to get people to be active.”

Focke said she hopes that biking will remain an option for the tour in the future.

“This is the first year, so of course you always learn when you try anything different. But I think we’re going to stick with it,” Focke added.

Ten college campuses are participating in the tour, including Augsburg College, Bethel University, College of Visual Arts, Concordia University, Hamline University, Macalester College, Northwestern College, St. Catherine University, Katherine E. Nash Gallery (University of Minnesota), and St. Thomas.

The free four-hour tour begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8.

Geena Maharaj can be reached at maha8007@stthomas.edu.