We've got a lot to talk about tonight! Here's some of the things I'd like to share with you.
1. I was unable to attend the public planning meeting about the Newark, DE skate park on Paper Mill (at the Curtis Mill site), but you can sign a petition here in support of the park and see the plans options (Option 2 does not include a skate park) here.
2. I'm hoping that we can sponsor a Skate Jam (Day) on or near June 21, 2010, Go Skateboarding Day. The good folks at Switch Skate Shop in Newark, DE are interested in helping us by contributing some elements for use that day. Epworth UMC in Rehoboth Beach, DE has sponsored several of these events, and one of their pastors, the Rev. Pat Laughlin, has passed along some good advice about how to run such an event that I will pass along to you this evening. Pat also put me onto a YouTube video called "Nowhere to Go" advocating a public skate park in Rehoboth Beach - like the one in Smyrna, DE.
3. If you don't already know about it, Family Life Church has been running a Skate and BMX Park under 141 in Newport, DE for over 12 years. For the past few years, a group in Wilmington has been raising money for a public skate plaza in Wilmington near the Blue Rocks stadium. The guys at Switch told me that some skateboarders in our area like to go to a privately run skate bowl constructed by a Christian in PA (20 miles from here) who runs a ministry called threesixteen skateboarding.
4. Even putting together a day-long event requires some careful planning to avoid what skatepark planners call the "Crashup Derby Factor" (poor arrangement of elements that contributes to skater collisions is what our underwriter is most concerned about). I ran across a site called Skaters for Public Skateparks that has lots of info about planning a park and ordered a Public Skatepark Development Guide for us to take a look at. Last summer, we saw some skateboarding elements in a campground in Wisconsin made by a company called SunRamp. Switch skate shop can also help us with plans for elements.
5. If all of this seems a little overwhelming, consider this: there are scads of kids in our area who like to skate - and very few places for them to do so legally and safely (think of the many "No Skateboarding" signs the litter our public spaces). Sakteboarders already use our parking lot to gather and skate. I have driven through Deacon's Walk streets so crowded with kids on skateboards and their friends that I had to stop the car and wait for them to part. Churches that want to offer skateboard facilities typically do so with a price tag attached (attend Bible study in order to skate). I'd like to think that at Skyline, we offer people Christ by living his love in such a way that people won't have to be coerced into falling in love with God.
In short - the time is right! Thank you for being a part of this dream.
Bo
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