Susanville Memorial Skate Crew hosts skate day
On Saturday, June 8 the Susanville Memorial Skate Crew held their first skate day at Memorial Park.
The event included live music, food and workshops to help teach kids how to skateboard.
The event drew more than 300 people from seniors to young children, with almost 300 signing support for the SMSC’s proposed plans.
The SMSC also brought extra boards for workshops teaching kids how to ride a skateboard and stay safe while doing it.
One of the other goals of the SMSC was to draw young kids — especially girls to the sport of skateboarding which Quincy McCourt, one of the event organizers, said was a huge success.
The SMSC’s main goal, however, is to revamp Memorial Park with a grant issued through Proposition 68 — a bond measure to fund state and local parks, environmental projects, water infrastructure and flood protection projects throughout California.
The plan that the SMSC has in mind is a whole new, bigger skate park that is more skateboard inclined. The skate park today has some of the features but was not built with skateboarding in mind.
The rails that run down the stairs have a 45 degree slant at the bottom that makes it unsafe to ride on, as well as the slopes for the center bunker structures are a little steep for skateboarding.
The SMSC is thinking beyond just a revamped skate park. It would also like to include a new basketball court, a new splash pool and even a possible Main Street entrance by the old Deal & Davie lot.
Though the grant from Prop 68 is their goal, they are also looking for community involvement as much as possible. Which is why there will be two more events the SMSC has planned for this summer.
On July 13 the SMSC will be holding a We Love Memorial Park event, which will include of course skating workshops, music and food as well. The focus, however, is to bring environmental and drug awareness to the community.
The last scheduled event is on July 27 where the group will hold its first Susanville Skate Competition; bring your best tricks and runs.
If you’re looking to contribute or are just interested, look for SMSC on Facebook.
