LIFESTYLE

T
hey called him the Bicycle Man.
For about 15 years a fence made
of 30 bicycles, all painted white,
stood at Tom Nolls house at Port-
ner and Grant avenues -- a landmark in
Manassas.
It got a lot of attention, Noll said. Peo-
ple would tell me theyd go out of their way
on their way to work drive by the fence. I
know one woman told me shed pray for
a red light so she could stop and look at
the fence. You dont pray for red lights in
Northern Virginia.
In 2010, Noll moved to Washington and
took his bicycle fence with him. A smaller
version of the fence now stands in a neigh-
borhood park at 1st and T streets in North-
west.
But Noll and his fence will soon be com-
ing back to Manassas, just for a visit.
Noll, a sculptor and landscape artist,
recently added author to his list of occu-
pations. His new childrens book, Te Bi-
cycle Fence, is inspired by the fence at his
former Manassas home.
Noll and local puppeteer Sandy Feulner
will be visiting Bull Run Regional Library
in the Manassas area at 7 p.m. June 19 to
read The Bicycle Fence and present a
puppet show based on the book. Noll will
sign copies of his book afer the show.
Te book tells the story of L.T. (short for
Little Tommy), a boy who love recycling
and you guessed it -- builds a fence made
of recycled bicycle parts for his yard.
Ive always been interested in recycling
and I was trying to fnd a way to get kids
excited about it, Noll said.
Noll did some research and found that
while there are some childrens books
about the more technical aspects of re-
cycling and about the basics of recycling
paper and plastic products, there werent
really any books that made recycling fun.
Tere were really no fun little stories
about recycling, Noll.
So, he wrote one.
Its a cute little story that I hope will get
kids thinking about recycling, Noll said.
Instead of just recycling paper and plastic,
kids can think about other ways to recycle
and creative things to do.
Noll frst got the idea for his bicycle fence
when he was a child living in Ohio. Tere,
like the star of his book, a young Noll put a
few bicycles together in an efort to enclose
his sister in the yard. (It didnt hold her
in, he said.)
Ten, about 18 years ago while living in
Manassas, Noll went to the landfll with a
local gardening club, as part of an Art in
the Garden project. Tere, he found fve
discarded bicycles
in a Dumpster, and
the Manassas bicycle
fence was born.
I kind of went
back to my child-
hood to make the
fence, Noll said.
Soon after the
fence went up in
Nolls front yard,
people began giv-
ing him their old bi-
cycles to add to the
fence. Eventually, the
fence expanded to
include 30 bicycles in
Nolls side yard. Te
white bicycles stood
all year and Noll
would decorate them
for various holidays,
and, sometimes just
for fun. Once he
added a Christmas
tree made of white
childrens bicycles.
Te fence was well-known in Manassas,
often drawing attention from other area
residents and visitors. Once, Noll recalls, a
tour bus stopped so tourists could look at
the fence.
People would stop
by and take pictures of
it, Noll said. I was the
Bicycle Man.
When Noll moved
to Washington he in-
stalled a smaller version
of the fence at a park in
the citys Bloomingdale
neighborhood.
People stop by there
to take pictures, just like
they did in Manassas,
he said.
Nolls book, published
by Green Kids Press, is
available on Amazon.
com and Noll hopes to
soon sell it in some local
stores. Two more books
in his Trash to Trea-
sure series are slated
to be released later this
year.
Noll said he hopes his
books will inspire kids
to come up with their own ways to have
fun recycling.
Hopefully it will get kids thinking about
what they have around their house that
they can use somehow, he said.
Spinning art out of bicycles
A former Manassas resident
tells the story of his recycled
fence in a new childrens book
AMANDA STEWART
astewart@princewilliamtoday.com
The Bicycle Fence, reading
and puppet show
Where: Bull Run Regional
Library, 8051 Ashton Ave.,
Manassas
When: 7 p.m., June 19
For: Children ages 4 and up
Admission: Free admission
tokens will be distributed at
the library 30 minutes before
the program begins.
IF YOU GO
26
P
W
T

N
E
W
S
E
D
U
C
A
T
I
O
N
S
P
O
R
T
S
L
I
F
E
S
T
Y
L
E
B
U
S
I
N
E
S
S
C
L
A
S
S
I
F
I
E
D
J
u
n
e

1
3
-
1
9
,

2
0
1
4

w
w
w
.
i
n
s
i
d
e
n
o
v
a
.
c
o
m
O
P
I
N
I
O
N