Although they're hoping to get more input and participation from the young people in the community as the proposed plan to construct a skate park in Three Oaks rolls along, the members of the Friends of Three Oaks (FOTO) organization were pleased with the large turnout of about 25 people for the first informational meeting about the project that took place at Three Oaks Village Hall on June 4.

The gathering included a number of young skateboarders who were very interested in listening to the presentation given by Matt Lawton of the Michigan Playgrounds company, who gave some guidance about how to best go about making a skate park a reality in the community in the not too distant future.

"The first thing I recommend to organizations that want to have a skate park in their community is that they decide on a location, and I understand that the Village of Three Oaks has agreed to make the L-shaped piece of land in Watkins Park to the northeast of the TimberTown playground toward Locust Street available for this project, so that's a very good first step to already have in place," Matt Lawton commented. "Now the next step you want to take is to organize some sort of youth committee or kid's council to help make more young people aware of the project, and to get them excited about it and involved in it Since they're the ones who are going to be using it, you really want and need their input on what kind of equipment they want to have there."

"Although this is called a 'skate park' and will probably be primarily used by skateboarders, the rails, ramps and other equipment can also be used by inline skaters, BMX bikers, and even kids with scooters to do various tricks," Lawton continued. "While skateboarding and skateboarders tend to have a little bit of a negative image at times, skate parks are great places for kids who may be a bit more individualistic and not into team sports to get away from their computers and video games and get outdoors to get in some good exercise while they're having a lot of fun.

"Skateboarding continues to grow in popularity, and it's becoming a very competitive and recognized sport now with a wider appeal. In fact, there's serious talk about skateboarding becoming an Olympic sport some day, like snowboarding, and when that happens I'm sure it will become even more popular."

Lawton advised that before any plan was put together the members of FOTO should gauge the interest in the community to help determine what size of skate park would be the most desirable.

"Before moving too far forward on this you want to try to get a good idea of how many kids would be using a skate park, and how many of them would be willing to get involved in spending some 'sweat equity' by getting actively involved in helping to make it become a reality here," he said. "I encourage more kids to come out to these types of meetings and make their views known about what they would and wouldn't like to see included in this plan.

"After you determine how big a skate park you want, and what type of equipment you want in it, then you have to start dealing with numbers and begin to put together a budget as well as figure out ways to fund it, and that fund-raising effort will include grant writing."

Lawton said that about 75 percent of the skate park projects Michigan Playgrounds has been involved in are community built, and he assumed that would be the case in Three Oaks.

"Volunteers can't do everything, but they can do a lot, and their help really helps out the budget," he said. "It's pretty amazing for people to participate in a big 'Build Day' and see an area go from nothing to something very special for the community like a nice skate park in a day or a weekend, depending on how many volunteers you can get to turn out.

"Personally I'd recommend that you start out by pouring a large concrete pad for the equipment rather than doing it the other way around and having a smaller base and trying to fit a lot of equipment in a little space," he added. "You also want to make it user-friendly for beginners so you get more kids coming out to use it and enjoy it. If the equipment is too demanding it may intimidate some children at the lower skill levels. If you start with a large pad you can start small with the equipment and have enough toom to add more as time goes by if the interest is there."

Lawton recommended the use of the higher quality skating equipment made by Woodward Ramps & Rails that he said would be more maintenance-friendly and could better withstand heavy usage and the Michigan weather.

"The next thing I'd do now is get the word out about this skate park to the kids in the community and then schedule a 'Design Day' where we can get together and they can see some samples of the equipment," he suggested. "We'll have a question and answer session, and that should give us a good starting point and a good feel for what the kids in the community would like to see included in their skate park. After getting that feedback I'll sketch out a rough drawing of a plan that day, and then I'll have a more professional drawing done from that one so you can review it. Then, when we get together after that, we can start talking more realistically about the costs.

"I think a nice feature to include in the plan would be a spectator seating area where parents and grandparents could sit and watch their children and grandchildren demonstrate their skills. It's a fun activity to watch, and I feel that interaction between the young and old is a very good thing."

FOTO board member Greg Kerrigan said that getting a concrete pad in place at Watkins Park sometime this year would be very desirable, and even if there wasn't any equipment installed until 2008, the skaters could still use the surface.

"We're happy to have the land part of this taken care of already, and we'll be looking at this from all different angles to make sure we get it done and get it done right," Kerrigan commented just before the meeting concluded.

Anyone — especially young people — having any questions, comments or suggestions about the proposed skate park may contact Kerrigan and FOTO by email at: treasurer@fo3o.com. You may also drop them a line or a donation at: FOTO, P.O. Box 143, Three Oaks, MI 49128.