Cashmere Skate Park - Cashmere, Washington USA

Cashmere Skate Park
( The Skate Park Is Closed & Removed )

( See News Of Cashmere Skate Park Below, For Why Its Closed & Removed )

Cashmere,Washington USA - The Home Of Aplets & Cotlets
Just 10 Miles West Of Wenatchee On Hwy 2 City of Cashmere
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Cashmere`s Skate Park is at the far end of the parking lot on
106 Aplets Way, Cashmere, Washington USA 98815
between Cashmere's First Baptist Church and the train tracks.

( CASHMERE`S SKATE PARK RULES! )
1.Helments , knee pads , elbow pads Recommended
2.Skateboard and skates only: NO BICYCLES or feet trafic at any times
3.Park Closed from 10pm to 6 am
4.No alcohol in the park
5.Glass containers are Prohibited
6.Children under the age of 10 must be accompanly by an adult
7.Smoking is Prohibited
8.Profanty Abusive Language is Prohibited
9.Do not use facilty if a hazard condition exists
Please call City Hall at 509-782-3513
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******** News Of Cashmere Skate Park! ********

*** Cashmere Skate Park Closure And Surplus Of Equipment ***

Gene`s BMX News -- 11/13/2007
Quote Via From Minutes Of The Cashmere City Council Meeting
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 At Cashmere City Hall 7:00 p.m.

SKATE PARK CLOSURE AND SURPLUS OF EQUIPMENT

MOVED by Councilor Moses and seconded by Councilor Fletcher
to surplus the skate park ramps and equipment, and use the excess
skate park contributions and the revenue from the sale of the equipment
toward purchase and installation of a slide at the Cashmere Water Park.

Motion carried unanimously.

CC - www.cityofcashmere.org/meetings/07NOV13.htm
ACC - www.cityofcashmere.org

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*** Cashmere Skate Park Discuss Reopening? ***

Gene`s BMX News -- 09/28/2005
Back on July 15th of 2005 the City of Cashmere Washington
closed down and removed the Cashmere Skate Park at 106
Aplets Way. The City of Cashmere quoted it`s reasons --
No skate park supporters attended a June 27th 2005 meeting,
the City Council voted unanimously to close the park on July 15.

The council decided that it would remain closed "Indefinitely"
Due to a burden on the city resources such as trash and
vandalism and illegal activities happening at the park.

After this news hit the world wide web and the word of mouth
amoung skateboarders and the area youth alot of sadness and
questions arised.

Gene`s BMX has seen some e-mails drop in asking if the
Cashmere Skate Park will reopen sometime soon and if
there is a group of people working on getting it reopen?

The questions are of good well and thought out questions.
But, I have no idea if there is a group of people doing anything,
That question is a hard one as I have not seen or herd anything.
But -I have done some digging around and found some "Official"
last words of reopening the Cashmere Skate Park.

Justin Parker -
Discuss Reopening and Maintenance of the Skate Park.

Cashmere, Washington -- August 8, 2005
( The City of Cashmere - Council Meeting Minutes )

Justin Parker was opposed to the decision to close the skate park.
Justin stated that he was part of the original group that founded
the skate park and a lot of money and effort was put into building
it. Justin asked what it would take to keep the skate park open,
because he doesnt believe that all the kids that use the park
should be punished for the acts of a few.

He believes most of the vandalism is after hours when the park
is closed. Justin is now in College and isnt around to use the
skate park, but he would like to assist the local kids in getting
the skate park back.

Judith Mott stated that the skate park was built in an effort to
keep the skaters off the streets and sidewalks and theyre still
skating on the streets.

Jamie Nyenhuis questioned the council on the possibility of reopening
the skate park if a maintenance plan was presented for their approval.

Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor stated that a lot of
the problems and complaints occur after park hours. If reopened
the skate park needs to be secured at closing, patrolled and park
hours enforced.

Bob Wildfang informed the council that he was involved in the
beginning when the skate park was constructed. He also made a
financial contribution to the skate park. Mr. Wildfang believes
its the citys obligation to provide parks for recreation, which
includes a place for skaters. He feels that the skate park is in
a poor location and should be relocated.

Mr. Wildfang announced his opposition to the
way the city handled the closure of the park.

In his opinion, a committee should have been formed to address
the problems and concerns. A committee needs to be formed with
participation from the city the kids and the adults.

John Bryant stated that the communitys support for reopening the
skate park is obvious do to the numerous signatures on the petition.

Bob Morley sent a letter of support and Judy Morley spoke in support
of reopening the skate park, because kids need a safe place to go and
something constructive to do. The Morleys volunteered to help keep
an eye on the skate park.

Bob Wildfang agreed to serve on the skate park committee.
John Bryant volunteered along with Councilman Bruce Moses.
Justin Parker will be one of the representatives for the kids.
Additional kids and adults may be recruited.

The committee will bring their findings back to the City Council.

CC - The City of Cashmere - Council Meeting Minutes 08/08/2005

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*** City Of Cashmere Shuts Down Skate Park & Removes It ***


More Photos - ( Photo 2 ) - ( Photo 3 ) - ( Photo 4 )
~ Click Photo or a Photo Link for a Big sized photo ~
Photos by Gene`s BMX.com

Cashmere, Washington -- 07/15/2005
It is Official, the City Of Cashmere Shut Down
the Skate Park and they have REMOVED it.......

Gene`s BMX took a small trip up to Cashmere on
Friday July 15th 2005 and took a photo shot of
where the skate park was at -- the far end of
the parking lot on 106 Aplets Way, in Cashmere
and found nothing more than an empty parking lot.
( "see photo up above" )

All of the skate park ramps have been removed from
the skate park area and the jersey barriers have
all been removed aswell making where the skate park
was located at, nothing more than a parking lot now.

No skate park supporters attended a June 27th 2005 meeting,
the City Council voted unanimously to close the park on July 15.

The council decided that it would remain closed indefinitely
Due to a burden on the city resources such as trash and
vandalism and illegal activities happening at the park.

It is sad to see the Cashmere Skate Park Closed & Removed.
And it is sad no one steped up to support in keeping the park.

The Cashmere Skate Park was FUN and will be missed by lots.

Gene`s BMX would like to thank all of the people that did help
in contributing to all the abuse that did play in roll to having the
skate park removed. It is people like you all that recks it all for
all of the other youth to have fun in Chelan County. Thanks alot!

I just hope that all of the Other Skate Parks and the people that use
them in the Chelan County area can learn from Cashmere`s doings.
"Respect It! - Take Care Of It! - Or - Your Going To Lose It!"

Good Luck To Everyone!

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*** Cashmere Skate Park ***
Cashmere, Washington -- 07/13/2005

Coppyed Quotes from the City of Cashmere
Council meeting Minutes on June 27th 2005.

Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor informed the council
the Sheriffs Department report that crime at the skate park has
actually decreased. The problem now is the graffiti and litter has
increased. The kids that were once interested in the skate park
and were willing to maintain it have grown up and moved on.

John Bryant is concerned about where the kids are going to go if the
skate park is closed. The skate park was built in part, to keep the
skateboarders off the sidewalks downtown and private property.

Mayor Valison stated he doesnt believe were being good financial
stewards if we continue to pull city personnel from other city jobs to
maintain the skate park. The kids that use the skate park should
be responsible for maintaining it.

MOVED by Councilor Skoglun and seconded by Councilor Falteisek
to close the Skate Park on July 15, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.

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*** City Of Cashmere To Shut Down Skate Park ***


( Photo by Gene`s BMX of the Cashmere Skate Park )

Cashmere, Washington -- 07/08/2005
At a Cashmere City Council meeting three weeks ago,
city staff asked the council to consider shutting down
the city's skate park, located at the far end of the
public parking lot on Aplets Way.

Mayor George Valison and public works coordinator
Michelle Taylor told the council that the park had become
a burden on city resources due to trash and vandalism;
they also said sheriff's deputies have answered numerous
calls about illegal activities happening at the park.

The council discussed the option of closing the park but
decided to wait until its next meeting to see if any
local residents wanted to support keeping the park open.

No skate park supporters attended the June 27 meeting.
The City Council voted unanimously to close the park on
July 15. The council decided that it would remain closed
indefinitely until skaters that use the park come to the
city with a plan to keep the park clean.

If no one comes forward, the park may never reopen.

The skate park was the result of the work of three local
teens, Nick Reed, Ryan Schmitten and Kevin Larson, who
came up with the idea in 2000. The trio spent over a year
raising more than $15,000 from donors throughout the city
and asked the city of Cashmere for its help.

The city donated $7,000 to the cause and space for the park,
which was completed in 2001. Part of the agreement to build
the park was that those who used the park would keep it clean
and maintained, something that hasnt been happening lately,
Valison said.

He said city workers spend an average of half an
hour each day cleaning up trash from the park.

------------------------------------------

Coppyed Quotes from the City of Cashmere
Council meeting Minutes on June 13th 2005.

MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP OF THE SKATE PARK
Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor reported that
city personnel spend between 30 minutes to 1 hour every
day removing the garbage from the skate park and about
1 hour per month cleaning the graffiti. Also, theres the time
spent in maintaining and repairing the damage done to the ramps.

MOVED by Councilor Webb and seconded by Councilor Moses
to place Discussion to Close Skate Park on the agenda of the
next council meeting, to allow input from anyone interested in
the skate park. Motion carried unanimously.

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Is it Hot out there? - July 17th, 2004

( Click On Photo For More Photos )

A skateboarder surfing around on the Cashmere Skate Park
in the hot summer sun with out any shade to cool off in.
It is a bit HOT! in the summer months in the Cashmere area.
So, big Kudos goes out to this kid for showing us all that
the Cashmere Skate Park can be a hot place to skate at,
even if it is way hot out and no shade, Its die-hard kids
like this, that make it all worth having the Skate Park...

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( Click Photo For More Photos )
A BMXer showing some good style at the Cashmere
Skate Park in Cashmere, Wa. on August 10th, 2003

BMX Is an Extreme Olympic Sport and is set to be in the 2008 Olympics.
With the sport being granted full Olympic status, lots of BMX riders in
the Chelan County areas do not have any places to ride bmx bicycles.

With no places for the youth to ride BMX bikes lots of the youth lose
the opportunity to further their Olympic dreams. "Opportunitys lost"
It is something for all to think about.

Fair Play - BMX riders shouldn't be excluded from a skate park.
The two can-and should-mix. For more see: BMX and Skateparks

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Photos Of Cashmere`s Skate Park
Photos By Gene`s BMX.com - 03/03/2002




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Forget The Calendar:
For Kids, Monday Was The Last Hurrah

Jonny Martin and Corey Vera watch as Calen Garcia ollies on his
skateboard at the Cashmere Skateboard Park on Monday afternoon.
Photo By Mike Bonnicksen By Kathleen Gilstrap, Wenatchee World

Cashmere/Wenatchee, Washington -- 09/04/2001
Ashley Turner had the perfect summer day on Sunday. Stayed home and
watched TV all day. "I got some movies, popped them in and laid on the
couch, Turner, 16, said. It was my day. For Turner, Sunday was the last
day of her summer, even if fall doesnt officially start until September 22.
Labor Day, she and her fellow Wenatchee High School cheerleaders worked.

They spent the day at school running a yard sale to raise money.
Today they--and more than 6,700 other students in the Wenatchee
School District--returned to school for opening day of classes.
Today was also the first day for students in the Lake Chelan,
Methow Valley, Omak and Stehekin school districts.

Many other districts returned to school last week. No matter when
classes start,though, kids agree that Labor Day is the symbolic end
to summer, and to the freedom to stay up late, watch movies, play
video games, swim,socialize with friends or just laze around. The
high school seniors and juniors running the yard sale at Wenatchee
High Monday said summer is a time to escape the grind of classes,
work, homework and extracurricular activities that keep them running
throughout the year.

Its just getting time to do nothing, sleeping in, staying up late
with friends, said Caleb Welsh, 16. You can do what you want.
Its not all planned out for you.



The only plans Corey Vera, 14, and Mike Schmitten, 12, had on Labor Day
were skateboarding. But they spent a while lounging on an old couch under
a big shade tree along one side of the Cashmere Skate Park first, the picture
of summer contentment. Vera and Schmitten talked and watched their
friends, Calen Garcia, 14, and Jonny Martin, 13, run ramps, jumps and rails.

The surprise is that all four boys, and almost every student interviewed,
were happy to get back to school. I was looking forward to starting school,
Schmitten said. I just don't like getting up early.

Kayla Hancock and Ryley DeChenne, both 10, were hanging out at Walla
Walla Point Park on Labor Day. Both started class at Kenroy Elementary
School in East Wenatchee last Wednesday.

I was kind of happy to go back to school cause summers boring,
Hancock said. Theres nothing to do. Friends Cullen Colwell, 12,
and Joel Walls, 14, sat outside Albertsons Monday afternoon,
cooling off with cans of soda before heading home. They had
been shopping for some last-minute school supplies at Target.

Both go to Pioneer Middle School in Wenatchee. Sometimes its fun with
your friends, but it gets boring and I'd rather be in school, Colwell said.
Walls said while he was looking forward to school, he wasnt happy about
all the homework to come. I wish summer was a little longer, maybe
another week, Walls said.

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*** Cashmere Teens Had A Wish And Made It Happen ***


Rick Hawthorne, right, owner of Vert Manufacturing
in Santee, Calif., secures one of the last sections at
Cashmere's new skate park Wednesday afternoon.
Helping hold the panel down Greg Reed, left, Ryan
Schmitten, both of Cashmere, Chris Wiggins of Vert.

Cashmere, Washington -- 06/22/2001
There's no telling what three teen-agers with too much time on
their hands might do. What Nick Reed, 15, Ryan Schmitten, 14,
and Kevin Larson, 14, did was to build the skate park of their
dreams. Well, almost, said Ryan.

Their budget was not big enough for a "street spine," a ramp where
two slopes meet at the center, but they gathered enough donations
from the community for seven other ramps, some with rails.

They also received an 8,000-square-foot site from the city
of Cashmere to put them on. It is at the far end of the
parking lot on 106 Aplets Way, between Cashmere's First
Baptist Church and the train tracks.

Realizing their dream took the boys more
than a year of fund-raising and planning.

On Wednesday night they finished installing the ramps and
they finally raced their skateboards across their work.
"It's going to be the best summer we've had yet," said
Schmitten, with a big smile.

The teens first thought of the project in January of 2000. They
were bored, and besides, "We had done the streets so many times,"
said Schmitten, a skateboarder since age 5. They were also getting
into trouble, said Reed, a rollerblader for almost a decade and a
one-year skateboarder. Shop owners and pedestrians didn't approve
of the skateboards, bikes and rollerblades on the downtown sidewalks
and parking lots, and they told the kids so. "Every place we'd go,
we'd practically get kicked out of, "said Reed.

Signs on the street prohibited small wheels in the downtown
area, but last year disapproval sprouted in bigger signs with
the legend "Maximum fine $50" at the bottom.

Carol Reed, Ryan's mother, thought her son's idea to create
a park was good, but impossible to accomplish. "It involved
so much money," she said.

But Reed was not the only one concerned about the safety of skate
boarders. Last July, the Cashmere City Council held a meeting to
discuss the possibility of opening a skate park. Reed was there to
present a design he and his friends had worked out on a computer.
The City Council gave them a site and $7,000.

"The kids got really interested, came to a council meeting
and that sold the council on the project," said Frank
McWhirter, city administrator.

The city money bought a fence, lights, and a new smooth surface
for the skate park, which Nick and his father, Greg Reed, spread.
But the skateboarders needed more money for the fun stuff -- ramps,
jumps and rails.

After school, the eighth-graders visited service clubs, business
owners, orchardists and banks in search of sponsors.

"We are famous,"
said Reed, holding his weathered skateboard. Like entrepreneurs
pitching a business project, they accompanied each presentation
with information booklets and answered questions. "They did all
the talking," said Carol Reed, who drove the teens from place to
place. "It opened my eyes to what they are capable of doing."

Their effort gathered $16,000, almost enough to pay for
their dream park, which they expect will draw around 40
regulars, both skateboarders and rollerbladers.

"It's our park," said Schmitten. "There's a couple of things
that are different from the original design, but it's pretty
much everything we hoped for."

They still haven't given up hope about adding the street spine and
are accepting tax-deductible donations, which can be mailed to the:
101 Woodring, Cashmere, WA 98815.
For more information, call 509-782-3513.

CC - Photo/Don Seabrook By Ana Campoy Wenatchee World staff writer.

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*** Barbecue To Raise Funds For Skate Park ***

Cashmere, Washington -- 06/15/2001
A group of teenagers will hold a barbecue Saturday
to raise money to complete the Cashmere Skate Park.

The party at the park site, 106 Aplets Way,
will run from 5-8 p.m. The cost is $10 a family
and $4 a person.

Donations can be mailed to the
City of Cashmere Skate Park Fund,
at 101 Woodring, Cashmere, Washington, 98815.
For more information, call 782-3513.

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April 9, 2001
Heard a request from three Cashmere Middle School students
to help buy ramps for a community skate park in Cashmere.
The city of Cashmere has provided a site for the park as
well as $7,000 toward fencing, lights and park construction.
Nick Reid, Kevin Larson and Ryan Schmitten asked the PUD
to contribute $5,000 to $10,000 toward the $25,000 cost of
purchasing skate park ramps. Commissioners asked staff to
look at funding possibilities and return with a recommendation.

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