Two of Cramer & Anderson’s senior staff members will continue a tradition of honoring the firm’s late Partner David Burke, who died as a result of a 2016 cycling accident, by participating in the 67-mile Ride the State event on June 28.
Jeremy Ruman, legal assistant to Partner Art Weinshank, and Denice Hull, the office administrator in New Milford, are being sponsored by the firm in the ride that will begin at the Canal Dock Boathouse on Long Wharf Drive in New Haven and end at Connecticut’s Old Statehouse in Hartford.
The event, limited to 200 riders, is presented by the nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance. It’s meant to highlight the need to close remaining gaps in the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and Hartford Connector segments of the greenway, and to raise funds for greenway work.
Ruman and Hull are riding to support those efforts and primarily to remember and honor David Burke. In past years, a Cramer & Anderson cadre of riders would participate in the annual Ride of Silence in Danbury.
There are no longer multiple Connecticut events for the Ride of Silence, which honors victims of traffic accidents and highlights the need for cycling safety. This year’s ride took place on May 21 in Mansfield.
David Burke, a longtime partner at the firm and avid cyclist, was cycling near Bantam Lake on Route 209 in Morris on the morning of March 12, 2016, when his bike hit a pothole, and he was propelled into a guardrail. He was flown by Life Star helicopter to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, where he died March 15, 2016, his 63rd birthday.
“People knew he was a hard advocate and would push for his clients, but he did it as a gentlemen,” Cramer & Anderson Partner Bill Franklin said at the time, while Partner Kim Nolan added, “I could always count on him for advice and guidance or a good laugh. He had a tremendous sense of humor.”
In addition to remembering David Burke by riding in cycling events in his honor, the firm has promoted cycling safety by donating “3 Feet – It’s the Law” roadside signs to New Milford, Danbury, and Morris, the town where Attorney Burke’s accident occurred, in an initiative led by Partner John D. Tower.
More About Ride the State
The 15th annual Ride the State follows the paved Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and the Hartford Connector, including newly completed sections in Simsbury and Bloomfield, for most of its route – passing through New Haven, Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Plainville, Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, Bloomfield and Hartford.
The route covers sections that are also part of the larger East Coast Greenway, a walking and biking route that will stretch 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida. According to the website, it is designed to transform the 15 states and 450 communities it connects through active and healthy lifestyles, sustainable transportation, community engagement, climate resilience, tourism and more. The greenway offers a safe place for bicyclists, walkers, runners, and more – of all ages and abilities – to commute, exercise and visit new destinations, the website explains.
The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance leads the development of the trail network, working with hundreds of volunteers, partner organizations and officials at the local, state, regional and national level to continue moving more of the route onto protected paths.
Approximately 37 percent of the planned route is complete, consisting of 1,060 miles of off-road, protected, multi-use paths. Learn more about the status of the project on the East Coast Greenway website.
About Cramer & Anderson
Cramer & Anderson provides sophisticated legal services, close to home, with regional offices in New Milford, Litchfield, Danbury, and Ridgefield. For more information, see the website or call the flagship office in New Milford at (860) 355-2631.