Skatepark Update April 2004
by Miche Milford

It is Spring in Tofino, flowers are in bloom, the whales are returning, the black bears are active, and best of all we can skate outside again… I love this time of year.

In this month’s skate park update I will bring everybody up to speed on the past, present, and future of the Tofino Skatepark. In February we put together the proposal packages for all the major surf and skate companies that do business out here on the west coast. Allister from Storm was kind enough to bring them to a trade show in Vancouver and put in a good word for us to those in charge. Hopefully we will be hearing back from them anyday now. On March 2nd, Kyle Dion from New Line Skateparks came up to Tofino and did an amazing power-point presentation to a packed Council Chambers. The presentation was well received by Council and thanks to all the supporters who came out.

On March 20th the Whalefest parade was a tremendous success with the biggest turnout ever and so many wonderful floats. We were definitely kept busy flipping burgers at the Community Hall, and raised approximately $450 to put towards the skatepark. Another big thankyou to all the volunteers that make these events a success.

We have lots of exciting upcoming events, starting April 8th with an amazing fundraiser put on by Jay Guildenhuis of Shelter Restaurant. This will be an evening of wonderful food, tantalizing desserts, and entertainment by Juno award nominee Danny Michel. This will be an evening not to miss; for more info call Shelter Restaurant and check out Danny Michel’s website at dannymichel.com.

Another event I’m really excited about is our upcoming trip to the indoor skatepark in Nanaimo. We will be taking the District van so space is limited. Anyone interested please contact April at the District Office (725-3229) as soon as possible.

Overall the Skatepark fundraising is moving along extremely well. To date we have raised approximately $36,000. Together with the $40,000 from the District and incoming grant money we are gaining momentum and should have no problems achieving our fundraising goal.

The ramps are back in the basketball court at the Village Green and we are also in the planning stages of building a half pipe at the new Pacific Surf School location at 4th and Campbell Street.

I hope to see you out there skating, and if you have any questions give me a call.

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Miche Milford has been a part of the Tofino Skatepark Committee for three years and is looking forward to its completion. Reach him for more info or with support and donations at (250) 725-2072