GRAVETTE — Danielle Girdano, pictured with her bike, made a brief stop in Gravette last Monday while on her 1,300 mile bicycle ride from Minneapolis to Dallas.

She began her journey in Minnesota on August 9 and is ahead of schedule for completing her ride in Texas on September 18.

Girdano said her ride is to promote equality and equal rights for all persons and raise awareness of the high suicide rate, particularly among teenagers.

She and her motorist/escort arrived in Gravette about 9 a.m. Monday after spending the night in Big Cabin, Okla.

They were enroute to Springdale, their next stop on their long journey.

The biker said she had been through parts of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and Gravette was the first stop in Arkansas. Depending on the terrain and weather, she pedals from 60 to as many as 80 miles each day.

According to an information fact sheet, Girdano in 2000-2001 lobbied Congress for elderly health care which led to action on two bills, one of which was named after her grandmother who died because of nursing home neglect.

And in 2004 she lobbied to honor Marine vets of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima with a memorial which had faces of marines, including her father, carved on it.

News, Pages 15 on 09/08/2010