Many Contributed To The

Skateboard Festival

To the Editor:

Our skateboard athletes had a sensational debut in Newtown at the skateboard festival on Saturday at Dickinson Park. For all those who attended the event — skaters, spectators, and volunteers — I think we can all agree the day was awesome in many ways. The skaters finally had their special day to show how talented and daring they are.

Congratulations to all the winners! There are many people to thank, so here goes. To Vertigo for running the competition in a professional way and for donating all the free passes to the winners and giving a full deck to a winner, as well as promoting the event! To Richard Peterson who owns Rampage for supplying the ramps. To the Rampage crew who set them up. Mr Peterson also donated a rail to one of the winners. Thanks to Vertigo and Rampage for a job well done and your generosity.

To Bern Unlimited, John Phaneuf, for donating prizes that included helmets, sun glasses, and other skater attire. To Jesse Goodwick for donating a skate board he designed himself with outstanding creativity. To all the volunteers, what can I say? Without you the day wouldn’t have gone as well as it did. Many stood in the sun selling food etc all day. There were volunteers who just came forward whom I didn’t know, to help with setup, cleanup, emptying garbage, or just offering their time to stand at a booth. You all touched my heart for all the work you did. To Mark Tambascio and his mom for selling delicious pizza all day and giving all the proceeds to the campaign. To all the people who gave a financial contribution. To Police Officer Grecco, a kind- hearted man who watched over the event, as well as Tom Dinicola for being there for a medical emergency.

To Kerry Ober for designing our website and up dating it. To the Botsford Fire Department for loaning their tables. To Newtown Youth and Family Services. To Pastor Jim Solomon and his wife Anne and their two princesses for your encouragement. To Herb Rosenthal and his wife for stopping by as well as [First Selectman] Joe Borst. To Chris Lyddy for coming down for the opening speech because of his interest in helping children in our community. To the entertaining, talented bands. To my husband, Chris, for his loving support and my sons. Last but not least to The Newtown Bee and the News-Times for promoting the event. I think everyone can honestly say, Yes a skateboard park in Newtown would be a great thing! To see information about the event and upcoming events, as well as the contribution list, go to donatetoskate.com. Thanks to all.

Sincerely,

Lori Capozziello

123 Toddy Hill Road, Sandy Hook                                July 30, 2008