![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack_Rotondo16-300x237.jpg)
Wyatt Rotondo tests out the pump track on Bernese Street in Fairhaven while (L-R) Shajn Raines, Chip Hawthorne and Mat Bolton work well into the afternoon on Saturday, 4/10/21. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
By Jean Perry, Neighb News Correspondent
As we crawl our way out the COVID-19 pandemic and back into the community, one particular group is shoveling its way back to pre-pandemic fun.
On Saturday, April 10, some BMX bike enthusiasts with plenty of help from the community converged at the Macomber & Pimental Park pump track to restore that essential edge to the mounds and berms of earth left smooth and eroded over the past year.
Mike Rotondo and Chip Hawthorne have been involved in the formation and maintenance of the
![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack11_Rodrigues-300x295.jpg)
Luke Rodrigues builds the momentum and makes the jump on the BMX pump track at Pimental & Macomber Park on Bernese Street in Fairhaven on Saturday, 4/10/21, when the track was restored for use this season. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack12_Rodrigues-281x300.jpg)
Luke Rodrigues builds the momentum and makes the jump on the BMX pump track at Pimental & Macomber Park on Bernese Street in Fairhaven on Saturday, 4/10/21, when the track was restored for use this season. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
pump track since its inception in 2018. And although the town has always supported the project, the two men said they were amazed on Saturday when at one point there were as many as 20 people on the scene, including a crew of Fairhaven firefighters, who within a couple hours had entirely resurrected the BMX bike track.
“I’m blown away at how much they helped us today,” said Mr. Rotondo. He added that Kia of Dartmouth also provided some funding for sprucing up the track while Igreen Landscaping helped out with some heavy machinery work ahead of the labor the group performed that day.
The months in lockdown and the restrictions on public gatherings and events took their toll on the dirt hills and sculpted berms that need regular use and maintenance to keep the earth packed down to retain their crisp shape.
![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack5_Raines-300x213.jpg)
Shajn Raines (center) breaks from hosing down the dirt to give some direction to Mat Bolton (on top of mound), with Mike Rotondo on hand to get the BMX pump track at Macomber & Pimental Park on Bernese Street in Fairhaven ready for the season on Saturday, 4/10/21. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack_8-300x200.jpg)
(L to R) Mat Bolton sculpts a dirt mound as Shajn Raines assists, with Chip Hawthorne and Mike Rotondo on hand to get the BMX pump track at Macomber & Pimental Park on Bernese Street in Fairhaven ready for the season on Saturday, 4/10/21. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
In the afternoon, the adults continued their work while the kids on their bikes helped out simply by packing in the dirt with the momentum of their bike tires across jumps and rollers and around the elevated turns.
The group increased the flow of the pump track by adding a few new design features while they were at it, and plan to maintain the track by establishing a once-a-week workday to keep the track just damp enough to keep it from getting too dusty and vulnerable to erosion.
![](https://fairhavenneighborhoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PumpTrack1_Shovel-300x200.jpg)
A shovel waits, ready for work as a group gets ready to spruce up the BMX pump track at Macomber & Pimental Park on Bernese Street in Fairhaven ready for the season on Saturday, 4/10/21. Photo by Jean Perry for the Fairhaven Neigbhorhood News.
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Click here to download the entire 4/15/21 issue: 04-15-21 PumpTrack