This week is the last installment of our chamber award winner profiles as we highlight the unbelievable efforts of Citizen of the Year, Brittany Hyde. Beginning next week, we will start to look forward at what the summer has to offer, potentially discuss some policy bills as we head into the final laps of the legislative session, talk about the Hacker’s Ball May 9 and more.

However, if you have enjoyed this series, I strongly encourage you to check out the videos on the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber YouTube channel to meet these award winners and hear their stories in their words. Thank you again to MaineHealth for being our 2024 Video Sponsor.

2025 Citizen of the Year: Brittany Hyde

Giving back to your community is something we all strive for and many of us do that in small ways. However, there are some people who think bigger and do things a bit bigger, and one of those people is Brittany Hyde.

To say it bluntly, Brittany is an instrumental leader in our community. Brittany grew up in the area, and after she boomeranged home in 2016, she began a career in the place she grew up. However, once she got disenfranchised with corporate life, she decided to try and make something on her own. A friend had suggested she follow a passion she had found in spin cycling. Brittany recognized a gap in the market, and though she had always been fit, the reason for the spin studio idea was because she also knew the camaraderie and community that can be built through fitness, and that is something she wanted to build. Having a place where everyone can strive for their own personal growth while feeling supported by others was the goal.

Brittany opened Spark Cycling Studio in May 2021 and began to build a base of support from friends in the area, other Brunswick Landing businesses and the fitness community. Word spread and a community of riders began to grow into exactly what Brittany was hoping to create. You must remember, May 2021 was during the height of the pandemic, and this was an indoor cycling studio where people were breathing heavy, so growing something in that moment is no small feat. Yet, people were aching for connection and something to do to better themselves, and Spark Cycling Studio gave some of them that, well, that needed spark.

Brittany knew that benefit rides were something she would prioritize, as she had participated in a few of those at other studios and she wanted to give back. Benefit rides are when the cost people pay for the class either goes in part or in full to an organization or benefit (they can be sponsored, too). Shortly after opening, someone said, “Hey, this is Pride Month — we should do a Pride ride,” and so one month after opening, they did their first benefit ride, which raised $184.

The amount of that first ride wasn’t the point; the point was Brittany planted the flag that these type of community fundraisers were a priority. When other riders suggested rides for other organizations and causes, Brittany said yes as often as she could.

In the summer 2023, Brittany’s father got diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In the acceptance of this diagnosis and wanting to do something to honor him and to raise funds for those fighting this debilitating disease, Brittany created Plunge for the Funds. “The Plunge,” as it is known to many, was one of the most successful privately organized, first-time fundraisers I have ever seen. The support came from everywhere. After years of doing benefit rides for others, sponsors and friends were more than ready to support something that meant the world to Brittany.

The event was held during the three-year anniversary party at Spark in May 2024 and included three benefit rides and an ice bath plunge for those choosing to stay in a bath for up to five minutes. Plungers got people who sponsored them (much like a bowl-a-thon) and sponsors also came through with heavy support. In the end, the first plunge raised over $33,000, which was donated to the only ALS clinic in Maine at Mid Coast Hospital.

The 2025 Plunge for the Funds is May 17, 2025, and sponsors and plungers are welcome.

Brittany has shown remarkable effectiveness in building a community of supporters through her business Spark Cycling Studio. Over the past three years, Brittany has initiated fundraising rides over 30 times and raised over $90,000 for these organizations. I’m hard-pressed to think of any citizen who has done this much fundraising for others over the last three years.

It should be noted, our chamber is a beneficiary of Brittany’s work — not through fundraising but something much more valuable: time. Brittany has been helping out as staff of the chamber for a couple of years, as she gives us five to 10 hours per week of marketing support. Let’s be honest, she doesn’t do that work for the money — she does it to help the community and to be a part of something that helps the community grow. That’s who she is: a helper, a teacher, trainer, leader, role model and a very deserving award winner.

On March 10, Brittany was honored at the Chamber’s Annual Awards Night held at St. John’s Community Center in front of friends, peers and several businesses who were influential sponsors. However, the most special attendee was her dad, who got to see her honored from the comfort of his specially designed wheelchair. One of the wheelchairs, in fact, that are just like the ones The Plunge funds helped buy for a half-dozen other families in Maine. It was a special night.

Congrats to Brittany for being recognized as the 2025 Citizen of the Year, but more than that, thank you for all you have done and continue to do to make our region better.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.