June 4 Kiwanis Meeting Program: Mimi Mehta and Mary Rohe spoke about the Chatham Skate Park.

Mimi Mehta (left in the photo) and Mary Rohe (right) spoke at the June 4 meeting about the history, status and plans for the Chatham Skate Park. They were introduced by Karen Swartz. The park is located next to the police station on Southern Blvd. in Chatham Township. It has been actively used by local young people since it was built in 2003.

The speakers are raising $15,000 to pay for an acrylic protective coating for the skating surfaces.

The skate park provides a unique opportunity for young people to develop and enjoy their skateboarding skills. It also provides a place for them to come together for camaraderie. It is a sort of playground for older kids, a place to relieve stress and develop social skills. It is a terrific local resource – the next closest skate park is a thirty minute drive from town. The speakers presented a PowerPoint presentation and a video explaining how the park has been used in the past ten years.

To learn more, please visit their website. You can find it by searching on Google for “chathamskateparknj”. Also visit their facebook page: “savechathamskatepark”. Some videos of the park in action are also available on YouTube – on the YouTube search field, enter chatham skate park to find videos. You can also find articles on this in Chatham Patch.

Mimi and Mary are asking local organizations and citizens to make donations for repairs to the skateboard park. The members of the audience enthusiastically applauded the work of the speakers and their fine presentation.