First photo: Maui car dealer Jim Falk talks to 250 keiki from Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui before giving them all new bicycles Wednesday afternoon at Jim Falk’s Valley Isle Motors in Kahului. Falk is giving 500 bikes away to children around Maui County this year, continuing a holiday tradition he started in 2011. Some children were told beforehand they were going to get a bike and others didn’t learn about their good fortune until they reached the bicycle-filled showroom. Aiden James, from the Makawao Boys & Girls Club, said he and his friends were told they were on their way to do a community service clean-up project at the sewage treatment plant. Receiving a bike instead of “picking up poop” made him feel “good.” In the past, Falk has said that, when he was a child, the best Christmas present to receive was a bike, and he’d like to share that feeling with keiki who otherwise might not have the chance.

Second photo: Aiden James rides his new bike on the lot of Valley Isle Motors.

Third photo: Kaisha MacKnight tries out her new bicycle and helmet.

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos