Rochester, NH Skate Park Grand Opening

For people who don’t have a local skate park it’s a fantasy that sometimes takes countless hours spent convincing lawmakers that it’s a good idea, then it takes budgeting and thousands upon thousands of dollars to actually get it built years down the road.

For the BMX and Skaters of Rochester NH all it took was some inspiration from one of their own.  June of 2008 Athlete Recovery Fund was just getting started with its first year as a nonprofit.  Through the www.athleterecoveryfund.com website we received a note from a mother who had a young son that was struggling through chemotherapy treatments.  He had been diagnosed with Leukemia and was looking forward to three years of treatment.  For this mother she knew her son’s only outlet and joy was in riding his BMX bike.  Unfortunately all her funds had to be spent on out of state treatment and necessities.

Since Athlete Recovery Fund (ARF), was established to only assist professionals in BMX, Skate and FMX there was nothing we could do, yet…A few months later the phone rang at ARF and it was Mountain Dew with an offer to give us a park setup that they used for a weekend event in New York!  Instantly I thought back to the young guy in New Hampshire and I thought maybe we can not only give him a reason to fight through the tough times but also give him a place to ride!

A couple of phone calls later to the City Recreation Department and ARF met Art Jacobs. “The city had been getting requests from the local youth who wanted a skate park and Aaron Cooke at Athlete Recovery Fund called me with an awesome offer.  This park fills a huge void for the youth in our community”.

With the help of Mountain Dew the park was transported on two semi trucks from NY to NH and stored for the winter.  When the plans to build the park came together ARF called on NH native and BMX Pro Josh Heino to help with the assembly.  In 2008 ARF had assisted Josh with expenses that came from a severe injury he suffered in Cleveland.  Josh assembled a crew of guys capable of rebuilding the park and a new Skatelite surface was ordered to cover the entire park.

July 25th 2009 the park was opened to the public!  Local skaters and BMXers came out to ride for the first time and the guest of honor Jimmy Cook, a young man battling Leukemia, attended the event and was the first to drop in!  Haro Bicycles and the local bicycle shop Philbrick’s even set him up with a fresh new Premium “Four Carat” bike and helmet!

ARF would like to thank Mountain Dew, Art Jacobs and the city of Rochester, Woodward Camp, Josh Heino and crew and all the volunteers for their effort to build the park in its new location.  This is something that we are not designed to accomplish and all the pieces of the puzzle just fell into place making it a reality.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it gives me tons of pride that this park will be open to the public for many years to come.  We would like to welcome anyone in the area to visit the “Jimmy Cook Action Sports Park” and enjoy what we were able to be a part of.  Please continue to support the Athlete Recovery Fund at www.athleterecoveryfund.com