Re: Skate Park; Lets see some effort

["Steve Gill" <hydrohead69@hotmail.com>]

Karen

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SOURCES OF INFORMATION!

You begin your skatepark note with the following:

"I would like to support the kids in their efforts to build a 
skate-park, except they have not made any effort. There are cans 
throughout the community for people to donate, as I understand an adult 
has to collect the money."

I am surprised that you did not find out that the cans were first placed 
in local businesses by a 10 year old boy, Michael Wilson.  Michael 
collects the money to this day-he is now an 8th grader at Moscow Jr. 
High and is 13 years old.  

As to your first assertion that the kids have done nothing themselves, I 
would like to point out that several small fundraisers have been 
attempted including:  
1)  A basketball game between the skaters and the local law enforcement 
staffs held at the Moscow Jr. High last spring [included kids as young 
as 12 years old playing with adults] which raised money but not much 
awareness, 
2)  A carnival at the Bonner Mall in July [this event turned into a 
fiasco when the City of Moscow's volunteer skatepark coordinator failed 
to show and the burden of running the carnival was dumped in the laps of 
five thirteen year olds [Michael Wilson, Bryan Gill, Nolan Helmstetter, 
Bob Burke and Dennis along with their parents,  
3)  A Chili-Feed at the UI sub last fall [again with donated food from 
parents and staffed by the same five boys], and 
4)  A dance at the Youth center.

The skatepark concept has been from the beginning a drive by very young 
kids trying to get support from the community.  The kids have been 
trying for 3 years with some success; however, the community seems to 
look over their heads [they are shorter than you] at the non-university 
youth.  Moscow is an interesting town with a diversity that is fostered 
by the university. 

I am a third generation North Idaho native [my great-grandfather started 
a stage coach line between Post Falls and Bonners Ferry in 1882] and 
have lived in North Idaho my entire life [Sandpoint for 35 years, Moscow 
for 7 years and I am now moving back to Sandpoint in June] and the real 
North Idaho is filled with communities that want their youth to have a 
place they call home.  

A big part of making a place "home" is accepting that we might have to 
fork out a little money to keep our kids happy.   Moscow can not offer 
the kids much in the way of outdoor recreation.  Besides being in the 
middle of nowhere-even the chamber of commerce asserts in its relocation 
packet that Moscow is only a couple of hours from the many wonderful 
recreational opportunities provided here in the interior Northwest [to a 
kid, 2 hours is a long time when you can't drive and your parents may 
not be able to afford to take you windsurfing to Pend Oreille Lake] 
Moscow has lost its swimming pool- there is NO BEACH, there is no ski 
resort, and most of the surrounding hills [Moscow Mountain included] 
have little, if any, national forest to recreate.

So, it makes sense to support youth-oriented projects such as the new 
pool and a skatepark [how about revisiting the old ski hill up Moscow 
Mountain?].  The skatepark committee has succeeded in raising an 
impressive amount of money when you consider the driving force is a 
bunch of 12 & 13 year olds.  The City of Moscow City Council has 
recognized this fact and has now hired a part-time skatepark coordinator 
and agreed to match the skaters fundraising efforts up $25,000.  
Additionally, the Moscow School District has pledged $10,000 in support.  

Michael Wilson and friends have been very patient in their arduous 
pursuit of a skatepark.  It is not only a passion but also a lesson in 
civics, volunteerism, and the resulting negativity we see from the 
misinformed.

Please review your facts.
  
Regards,

Steve Gill
Email: hydrohead69@hotmail.com
Email (UI):  gill752@uidaho.edu
Phone (UI): 208-885-4569
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
There is a reason that human beings long for a sense of permanence. This 
longing is not limited to our children, for it touches the profoundest 
aspects of our existence: that life is short, fraught with uncertainty, 
and sometimes tragic.  We know not where we come from, still less where 
we are going, and to keep from going crazy while we are here, we want to 
feel that we truly belong to a specific part of the world.						James 
Howard Kunsler

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