By: Taylor Arens - Journal Staff
The 2026 Bike Ride Across Nebraska, or “BRAN” group will be in Crofton on June 10-11 next week, and the community in Crofton has been actively preparing for their arrival.
The community is welcome and invited to attend all of the events, socialize with the BRAN riders and represent the community.
A pie and ice cream social will be held on June 10 as well as a concert, and a yoga class. Yoga will be at the People’s Grocery back garage from 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
The Pie and Ice Cream Social will take place at the Crofton South Park from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. It will be a free will donation to help benefit the beautification of Crofton.
The music will be played by Sounds of Freedom at the City Auditorium, including a number of locals (Kim Sawatzke, Laurie Larsen, etc.) from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
All activities are open to the public.
There will be a planned tour on a school bus for the bike riders that will leave Crofton at 2 p.m. and return around 4 p.m. This tour will include stops like the Crofton Golf Course, Lewis and Clark Visitor Center, and Calemet Bluff.
All volunteers are “all hands on deck” with the events coming up and are continually looking for more volunteers to support the 325 people coming into town next Wednesday.
As of May 30, there were 295 riders signed up for the event with 30 support staff. This means 325 people supporting the community of Crofton. “They are estimating 325 people that will be supporting our community and spending money and helping stimulate the economy which is very exciting,” Crofton City councilman and Crofton BRAN committee member Bryce Rossman said.
The hope is that some of these riders will come back to the community again to support the local businesses and possibly look at Crofton as a place to move to. Rossman also hopes that even if no one decides to move to Crofton from this, that BRAN will continue to put the town on their list of yearly stops for the event.
The Crofton BRAN committee is working on finalizing a QR code with a list of activities, where businesses are, and where the food is at. They are also actively working on finalizing food preparation for the event as well as ensuring there are enough tables and chairs and hauling picnic tables to the South Park.
“We are looking forward to this event and are very excited to welcome BRAN and all the riders to town,” Rossman commented.
If anyone is hoping to volunteer for any of the events going on during BRAN please contact Joyce Stevens, Susie Hillman, or Jolene Steffen for more information.