Disappointment in Middleboro

Middleboro skatepark re-opened last Thursday, and I got to get a quick session in after work. Everything I wrote about a few blogs ago about the riders and skaters policing the park and upholding the rules was happening right in front of me. I was pumped to see that kids realized what they had done and to prevent the park from being taken from them, they took action. Anytime someone came in the park without a helmet, they were asked to leave, and there was no trash being thrown everywhere.

I told Tony the next day that I was going to write him a post complimenting the Middleboro locals and to tell them to keep up the good work so that the park would stay open and we would have a place to ride, until today.



With the warm weather we are having this week, I decided to swing by the park after work for a few runs. I found the skatepark to be a complete mess. The place was packed with kids, a large majority of them without bikes, skateboards or scooters, hanging out on the ramps in the way of the guys that were trying to ride. There were still a handful of riders with their helmets on, but the majority of people were not wearing them. Things have gone back to the way they were before the park was closed, and it hasn’t even been re-opened for a week yet.



If the skatepark is treated the way it was today, it will be closed again, and there is a good chance it will be forever. I don’t know what happened to the attitude that the riders had last week, but it needs to come back quickly. As I have said before, it isn’t the greatest park, but it is a place to ride and hang out with friends. Plus, all of the hard work in creating Pembroke skatepark will go to waste if they see that the parks in surrounding towns are treated poorly. So Middleboro locals, get your act together before you don’t have a place to ride AGAIN.



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Justin H. Gamache



As everyone that uses Middleboro skatepark knows, the parks been recently reopened after a long period of time of being closed due to a number of reasons. I myself, with the help of plenty others have gone out of our way to bother the park department and convince them to give us another chance at using the skatepark. Surely enough with a little bit of consistency it was reopened with an exception, helmets are required. Maybe the ramps aren’t ten feet tall and helmets were never required previously but if it’s the rule, follow it. It’s not hard and it may not “look cool” but for the sake of the park and people that are willing to follow the rules to ride, strap those things on! Sure some people have other things to pay for and maybe a helmet isn’t a main priority, but I assume one of your buddies has an extra one kicking around, borrow it. Don’t ignore the rule, because if one person does others will over look the rule and before you guys know it, the park will be closed once again. Why take time to have the place reopened and bitch about it being closed if you aren’t willing to follow such a simple rule? It’s ridiculous if you ask me. In addition to the rules being broken, NO LITTERING! There is a trash barrel next to the gate and its ten feet away from where the most trash builds up. Some people just don’t understand the annoyance this builds, the fact that a select few work at it for weeks to get the place reopened if people can’t respect it. It’s not the prettiest place in the world, not the most amazing ramps, but where are all of the riders, skaters, and scooterers when it closed? Bitching about not having anywhere to do what they love to do. My main point is FOLLOW THE EASY RULES, AND THE PARK WILL STAY OPEN! It’s literally as easy as that…
Dana J. Kelble