The new bike park recently inaugurated in Mitzpe Ramon draws dozens of local children every day. The park’s central feature is the pump track - a circular route of rollers (small banks) and bermed corners that cyclists can navigate using strategically timed body movements (‘pumping’) instead of pedaling.
“This park is an outstanding example of how local residents’ pride and sense of belonging can be strengthened,” said Mitzpe Ramon Mayor Roni Marom. “The park is located centrally in an area of town surrounded by magnificent views. People from all sectors of the population can meet up here and join in sporting and social activities that bring them together as members of a united community.”
This remarkable route was constructed with the support of KKL-JNF’s Friends in Sweden in memory of Mietek Grocher, a KKL-JNF Friend and a great lover of Israel. “When I come here to visit I can see my father standing before me, with a broad smile on his face,” said his daughter Miriam Grocher-Schildt, who had arrived for a tour of the park. “He was always full of the joys of life, and he loved children. After all, children are the future of the State of Israel and of the entire Jewish People.”
Mietek Grocher was a Holocaust survivor who devoted the rest of his life to telling young people in Sweden the story of his survival. As an enthusiastic Zionist, he supported a great many projects all over Israel before he died a year and a half ago, at the age of ninety-one. The Mitzpe Ramon Pump Track, his final venture, was completed with the help of Friends of KKL Sweden.