Skate Nelson, for now

By Aaron Lee

Published: June 18, 2008

A recently formed skateboarder’s advocacy group is setting up a mobile skate park at Rockfish River Elementary School this week.

SkateNelson is partnering with Nelson County’s Parks & Recreation Department to bring in a mobile park that includes grinding rails, a half pipe and several ramps.

“There’s not anywhere for them to really go,” recreation technician Gary Cody said of the county’s skateboarders.

Cody said the park is being brought in on loan from neighboring Augusta County. He hopes the four-day stretch of skating will give county officials a better idea about the level of interest the sport generates in Nelson.

Boarders will be required to wear knee and elbow pads along with a helmet while skating. Tim Gorman, who helped start SkateNelson in March, said there will be pads for those skaters who don’t have their own.

The event is free, but donations are welcome, Cody said.

Gorman said SkateNelson is working to have a skate park built in the county since most of the skaters in Nelson currently travel to Charlottesville and Lynchburg to use skate parks there.
Since March, nearly 75 people have signed up through SkateNelson’s Web site to support building a skate park in the county, Gorman said.

The group was recently recognized as a nonprofit, which will allow it to raise funds for the project, he said.

The mobile park will run Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

Visit http://www.SkateNelson.org for more information.