Skateboarders On A Roll In Raising Awareness And Money For Skate Park

By Andrew Gorosko

Several dozen youths who are more agile than they realize demonstrated their finesse in the art of skateboarding when they gathered on an inclement Saturday, October 25, at Dickinson Park on Elm Drive.

Tirelessly, the boys repeatedly pushed their skateboards across the pavement, mounting ramps and obstacles, and overcoming barriers in seeking to perform the perfect skateboard stunt for their personal satisfaction and the amusement of others. The activity took place within the park’s pavilion, which shielded the youths from the dark day’s wet weather.

The pulsing beat of pop music played on boom boxes provided an aural background to the endless whir of skateboard wheels rolling across the pavement.

Youth after youth would try complex stunts on their skateboards, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, based on the degree of difficulty and their skill levels.

When the youths lost their balance and fell to the ground, they would quickly remount their skateboards, undaunted.

Lori Capozziello, of the group known as Donate to Skate, watched approvingly as the youths practiced their routines on the skateboards.

Donate to Skate held the six-hour October 25 fundraising event, known as October Skate Fest, to raise the public’s awareness of the need for a local skateboarding park, Ms Capozziello said. The organization, so far, has raised about $15,000 toward its $75,000 fundraising goal for a skateboard park at Fairfield Hills, she said.

Such a facility would provide youths with a safe place to practice their sport, she said. Skateboarding on parking lots is hazardous to youths who risk becoming involved in motor vehicle accidents, she noted.

Other youth sports in town have facilities designed for their participants’ use, and so should skateboarding, Ms Capozziello said.

The planned skateboard park would be constructed on land near Cochran House at the town-owned Fairfield Hills core campus, she said.

Donate to Skate soon plans to approach corporations in seeking funds to help create the skateboarding park, she said.

The town would provide a paved area, fencing, and lighting for a skateboard park, she said.

According to Donate to Skate, having a skateboard park would allow youths to channel their energies into a positive activity, provide them with a safe place to go after school, and provide youths with a place of their own where skateboarding is a legal activity.