Skateboard Clinic Scheduled for June; Funds sought to upgrade park

During the most recent City Council meeting, local skater Pirmin Engeler spoke to the council requesting permission to host a skateboard clinic at the park facility, and raising the issue of pursuing funds to revitalize and improve the skate park area of the city park.  Working with Debbie Dumont from the Cariboo Development Council and local skater EJ (Epifanio Junior) Lopez, Engeler has has located some promising sources of potential funding for the project, but nothing has been officially set in motion yet.

The current skatepark facility has been in place for nearly two and a half decades, and is definitely showing its age.  The equipment is prefabricated metal for the most part, and has became either dangerous or less usable than when it was first installed.  Skateboarding, and riding scooters in the park are still popular, and many local athletes and kids would like to see the facilities improved.

The skate park started like many around the state during the same period, during the 90s and early 2000s.  According to Egeley, “Us 90’s babies were born in a good run of popularity for skateboarding and my group of friends and I came to love everything about it.  Our parents saw this was something we were going to stick with and brought us down to City Hall to a council meeting to ask for skatepark.”  

“Skaters are these kinds of artists that can re-imagine a space in regards to how they can use it with a skateboard, so there are always places we can skate, even in Caribou County.  For the most part, however, skating in Caribou County is like a lot of things we have to do as a smaller community, we outsource it to the larger communities around us that have a larger money pool for recreation facilities. I think that it’s a continuing problem because a lot of the youth are discouraged when they have to work with the spots they can skateboard in their city, which are not only far and few between, but can also be on a business or individual’s private property.  There was always going to be a better skatepark in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, or Boise, but smaller communities like ours needed to provide something engaging for those kids that don’t get to make it out that far on a regular basis, like us when we were getting started, and that’s still valid today.” 

As Egeley finds himself returning to the City Council years later for the same reason but in the parents’ role this time, he relates “At the same meeting, it was brought up that a lot of homes in the city had address numbers that were not up to code, they were supposed to be so big so firefighters and first responders could see the numbers clearly.  So, we stood up immediately and that was one of the things we did as like the first grassroots fundraiser for the skatepark, we sold address numbers door to door.  I think for a youngster back then, it was pretty tedious.  We would get into long winded conversations with people much older than us. I kind of expect and enjoy now that I’m older, and trying to gather an idea of our community’s history, but back then it was like we wanted to be in and out and back on our skateboards.  I’m not sure what the total raised from that part of the fundraising was, I’m sure it was pretty insignificant.”

The effort to create the space for skating was truly widespread, and involved the dedicated efforts of a lot of local skaters, their parents, other extreme athletes, and civic organizations.  “I’ll probably forget some names of people that helped us, but a few I remember are Matt Chapin, Tom Ozburn, Jeff Ozburn, Brock Tingey, Jeff Pearson, Don-Michael McCollough, Trent Hunzeker, Sam Mathis, Michael Frankos, Nathan Bollar, Jesse Erickson, and Keith Rasmussen.  It’s weird saying those names now because a few of them have passed away, and a few would never be mentioned in the same sentence now.  Tom, and Don-Michael have trees planted at the skatepark in their memory, and Michael has a bench there in his memory,”
Egeley says.  

“Of course, all of the parents were giving funds and pushing for it too.  The Mud Racers that included the Erickson and Mason families was an organization I remember making a big donation. It would be cool to find some more numbers on who donated and the original warranty information on the ramps and everything even though it’s long past, but supposedly that info is somewhere in an old paperwork mess at the city building.”

Jason Wiley, Councilmen Randy Prescott and Tony Varilone from the city were involved and supportive as well, according to Debbie Dumont.  

The equipment at the park is prefabricated steel.  It’s one of the main options for parks that can’t raise a lot of money due to its durability and relative cheapness.  Even so, most pieces are damaged and some are unusable from the years of snow removal and moving them around without proper rigging.  “Every little transition that makes wheels roll smoothly on and off of the equipment has been worn down.  Some of these pieces can be kept if we get the funds and possibly volunteers for some steel work,” Egeley says.  “Most of the original asphalt has held up really well, but there was a lower quality addition done at some point, so a portion of the park is like skating on chip seal.  There›s also a lot of debris that ends up in the useable area from the trees as well as gravel washing onto the park.”

As far as what Egeley and EJ Lopez would like to see for the park, he says, “We want to get all the equipment back to working and safe, make sure the entire surface area of the skatepark is usable, and some kind of curbing installed to help with the gravel debris.  If we plan it right, the curbing could help with the debris and be a skateable obstacle. In addition, there are beginner features we are missing that any good skatepark should have like a mini-ramp (a small halfpipe), manual pads, and boxes.”

According to Egeley, “when I’m there and school is out, I see 8–16-year-olds come through on bikes, scooters, and skateboards in a group of two or three every couple of hours.  Occasionally a family of 4 or more will stop by for their kids to roll around. They are limited to utilizing two or maybe three pieces of the equipment that are still in okay shape.

Most times they will engage and be asking how long we’ve been skating and how nice it would be to get a better skatepark.”

While there are a number of impressive concrete parks around the region, the cost for such facilities is enormous.  That might be out of reach, but Egeley would like to make sure that some opportunities are in place for local skaters in whatever form it can be secured.  “Mainly I want to see a quality skatepark busy with kids having fun. I know the research that says time spent skating is emotionally regulating, a pro-social activity, and an activity that develops resilience.  The youth don’t have to keep all that in mind, they just have to enjoy doing it. It would be an amazing bonus if we can interest some of those kids to dive a little deeper into what skateboarding has to offer.   Back when I was a kid, we all just wanted to be the professional, but now there’s a world more opportunities involving extreme sports other than just being that Street League or that Olympic athlete.  There are even organizations granting college scholarships for skaters now.”

Egeley points out that a new skate park would help revitalize and improve the downtown area in a way that the current facility does not. “I want our skatepark to be able to add to the aesthetic we have going with our park and our main street instead of looking kind of dilapidated out in the midst of where we celebrate so much as a community. I’m proud of what we do with our parks here, the skatepark is just an area that needs attention now.” 

As part of a plan to raise some awareness of the needs of the park, as well as provide instruction to those who may want to jump into skating or work on their skills, a clinic will be held on June 28th and 29th with 2-hour sessions at the city park. The morning sessions will be at 10:30-12:30 and afternoon sessions are from 1:30 to 3:30. The cost is $20 for the first session and $10 for each one after that.  Students can sign up for as many sessions as they want.  Any proceeds will go directly toward upgrading the skatepark.  

Egeley explains that “We have to require helmets, knee and elbow pads are highly recommended.  We have some extra equipment, so if the student only has a skateboard, or has some equipment but doesn’t have a skateboard, we can accommodate a few of them if they indicate that on their sign-up sheet.  To sign up for the camp, people can use the QR code on our flyer that will be posted around town and there will be a link posted on our facebook page.” 

As far as what people can do to help support the park, Egeley says, “If you know someone who is getting into skateboarding, let them or their parents know about the camp. We want to be able to reach other extreme sports that use the park, so if you are or know a person that could coach scooter or bmx for future clinics, contact us.  We want to plan sessions with local veterans, youth groups, recovery programs, and people with mental and physical disabilities, so if you work with any of these groups and are interested, contact us. People can the word out to their employer about donating and consider donating themselves. Giving funds will fulfil the donation incentives regarding their taxes.  Right now, you can send in a donation to Carriboo Development Foundation or CDF at PO BOX 892 Soda Springs, Id 83276, Tax ID: 31-1702551.  We will be adding a way to donate through a venmo or other service in the future.  People can look us up on facebook, Soda Springs Skateboard Association, for updates and to contact us.”