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Daniel Barney and Mick Wyntergreen, both 16, cast their shadows on the completed portion of the Jacksonville skate park Wednesday. The park is $3,100 closer to completion after marketing students at South Medford High School spent the summer parking cars at the Britt Festivals and donated the proceeds to the city of Jacksonville. Summer jobs benefit skateboard park By VICKI GUARINO It was the perfect match: students looking for a cause and skaters looking for contributions. So after a summer of parking cars for Britt Festivals concertgoers, South Medford High School marketing students Wednesday turned over $3,100 for expansion of Jacksonville's skateboard park. "We hope the money will help the skate park," said senior Brandon Meyer, president of the marketing club Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), which organized the fund raiser. For most of the festival performances, a half-dozen DECA members -- aided from time to time by skaters -- ran a parking lot on Jacksonville city property. The effort was a partnership among the school, the city and the festival. "We were looking for a community service project, and this came up," Brandon said. Parents, adult volunteers at the skate park, and school officials helped to piece together the project, but overall it was the work of DECA members, said Larry Williams, who works with the marketing students. "This was totally a teen project," said Williams. "All coordination, volunteer organization, money handling and problem solving was handled 100 percent by DECA." The city and skaters who use the park figure they need about $20,000 to finish the work. The bowl-like track carved into a hillside next to the town's old cemetery would more than double in size, said 16-year-old skater Mick Wyntergreen, a Rogue Community College student and one of the organizers of the park effort."It will be big, crazy, gnarly," said RCC student Dusty Studebaker, 17. Studebaker is designing the expansion and was one of the skaters on hand at South as students presented the money to the city. "It's really a good start," said Studebaker. Funding the $60,000 project has been a matter of soliciting donations, grants and lots of volunteers. Wyntergreen said park users already have started clearing some debris for the park's next phase. The park began as an Eagle Scout project two years ago. "We basically dedicated the park to the kids," Jacksonville Mayor Jim Lewis said as he accepted DECA's check. With the Britt season done and the money delivered, Brandon said DECA members are in the market for a new community project. "We're looking. We're open to suggestions." |
