HOME

THANK YOU

DONATE

PHOTOS

LETTERS

 skateboarder
Donate to Skate

 

Donate To Skate has many to thank!

 

Newtown Government - Special thanks to Amy Mangold, Director of Newtown Parks & Recreation for her incredible devotion to this project. Because of her determination, education, compassion & kindness, our dream of having our own skate park has come true. Amy is one of the best. When you're one of the best, only the best will do! The Newtown Skate Park is a state of the art recreational facility that we all are proud of thanks to Amy Mangold!

Newtown Parks & Recreation, 2007-2010 - Amy Mangold (Director), Carl Samuelson,(Asst. Director, Parks), and his crew - poured many hours of research into "How To" build this complicated facility, then helped with the site and prep work, Barbara Kasbarian, (Former Director) who through her research convinced many a skatepark was both needed and feasible, Roseanne Reggiano (Asst. Director, recreation),Deborah Denzel (Admin. Asst.), Donna Benson, (Secretary), Rita Pavia (Clerk). Through the years all of these people were there for us in many ways. Especially for moral support!

Newtown Parks & Recreation Commission - Special thanks to Ed Marks who got us pointed in the right direction from the beginning & continued to fight for us until the end! Edward Marks, Maureen Crick -Owen, Tom Dinicola, Vincent Yanni, Peggy Yochum, Patrick Barczak, Phil Steimle. Special thanks to Jan L. Brookes for helping out at the fundraisers & being an advocate for the welfare of our skaters.

Fairfield Hills Authority - Initially gave the skaters land on the campus. A true gift! 2007-2010 - Andrew Willie, Dr. John Reed, Bob Geckle, Donald Studley, Julia Wasserman, William Lavery, Walter Motyka, Moira Rodgers, Amy Dent, James Bernardi, Michael Holmes, John Madzula, Brian White, Carley Ross.

Newtown Youth & Family Services - For entertaining small children with craft projects at our fundraisers.

New Hope Community Church - For all the spiritual support, volunteers, use of your video equipment & donations. God Bless!

First Selectman 2007-2010 - Herb Rosenthal, Joe Borst, & Pat Llodra.

Board Of Finance & Legislative Council 2010 - For agreeing to match the generous donation from a Newtown family!

Community - The Newtown Skate Park will forever be a symbol of what a caring community can accomplish together as a whole. It's concrete proof (no pun intended) that our community can "Live & Let Live" & support important causes they have little personal interest in but the intelligence & compassion to do so anyway!

The Donate To Skate Committee, Past & Present - Special Thanks to Kerry Ober the webmaster for Donatetoskate.com for four long years of hard, creative work! Current Chair - Erin Heneghan. Past Chair - Lori Capozziello. Members - Mark Tambascio, Karen & Chris Grosso, Kerri Cartelli, Victoria Hensel. Thank you for all the time & effort you devoted to our cause.

Hearfelt thanks to Erin Heneghan for taking on the last leg of the mission with your new creative ideas, bringing a breath of fresh air to the campaign.

Local Businesses - There have been specific local businesses that supported our fundraisers with food donations EVERY TIME we asked. Thanks for your generosity! My Place Pizza - Special thanks to Louise & Mark Tambascio for their kindness, hard work & great Pizza, Pizza & more Pizza. Andreas Pastry Shop - Tony the owner once said to me "I'll give you as many donuts & pastries you want as long as you get these skaters out of my parking lot!" Thanks Tony for the hundreds of goodies! Dunkin Donuts - manager, Jeff Dymerski for the endless supply of delicious caffeine! Super Stop & Shop, & BIG Y. Special thanks to The Newtown Bee, Curtis Clark, Kendra Bobowick, Andrew Gorosko & Eliza Hallabeck. Thanks for sticking by us every inch of the way.

Vertigo Skate Park - has recently closed their doors & they are sorely missed. They did so much to help in many ways the entire time of the fundraising campaign. The owner, Chris did things like put up flyers for every fundraiser we had promoting it. Allowed us to hold a skater Video Competition at his indoor skate park. Promised us three of his employees would put on a competition at our first fundraiser & they did a great job executing & judging it. Vertigo also gave generous prizes away at every fundraiser. FYI-They hope to open another skate park. Visit their website for updates. GODSPEED VERTIGO.

Volunteers - I really want to name each & everyone of you. It's impossible because there have been so many in these past four years. I would feel bad if I forgot any single one. I'm not really sure what to say but I'll try.

Now that the entire project is complete I've been working on this thank you letter for our website. It hasn't been easy because like I said before, four years is a long time. I've been choked up with emotion. Although I turned the responsibility over to Erin last year after asking her if she wanted to take the reins. She did a terrific job seeing us through the last leg of the journey as well as helping out as a committee member for a few years before she took over. I am so grateful to Erin for taking it on.

This is the thing. I have so many people in my mind, so many memories of the kindness of strangers. It's a whirlwind of memories of all kinds. I think it's safe to say, I remember so many of you. The little things people said or did. The big things. It doesn't matter what kind, how much, big, or small. It's all the same. It's all good. It's all about the fact that kindness most certainly exists in this world. In our community. I wrote a letter for our homepage. It expresses that Newtown has proven through all our efforts combined, by our Government; residents; family; Boards & Commissions, local & non local businesses, that we care. We can collectively do what's right. That we can persevere. We have the ability to make changes, reach goals, & work towards bettering our community along with the shared confidence that it can be done. There have been people who have said to me that it couldn't be done. My experience has been that those kind of comments are natural. I think it's sad that people, including myself, lose the ability to have faith in their heart because life is difficult, scary, & disappointing. It's understandable because often one can feel all alone & can't find the support they need.

I think what I'm trying to say is when I started to lose the faith but I needed to keep moving forward other people reached out with kindness & restored my faith I've learned that having faith each day is a decision not just a feeling. If I'm having a hard day & my faith goes out the window I know people are there for me but it's up to me to ask for help. The skate campaign has been a big learning experience .I've been changed by it in good ways. If there's anyone out there reading this & has pondered starting or joining some worthwhile cause. Go for it as soon as possible.

What's super cool to me is that in our conservative town of Newtown we have proved a lot of things & some barriers have been broken. Some skaters, well you know. They're a little scruffy, a little too cool, a bit rebellious, unapproachable to some. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Can you imagine what they must be thinking right now? How they feel? Well I have a skater & he is absolutely amazed, excited & so happy! My guess is they're feeling pretty astonished. The park was built so fast once they got going. Their needs have been met & its confirmation that we care & have recognized them as athletes like our traditional ones.

Being a Mom of a determined skater I am relieved we have been able to provide a safe place to skate for our skateboarders! The benefits are great for so many. It's considered an extreme sport because well, it's extremely difficult to do. I'm always fascinated as a spectator especially when they fall hard & get right back up! Business owners no longer need to worry about skaters in their parking lots & deal with shooing them away. The skaters will no longer be treated harshly. I know from my own skater this happened frequently causing a snowball effect. The skaters would be on the defense & therefore viewed in a negative way. This problem has been solved by providing the skate park.

Parents will know where their skaters are. As Amy Mangold says, "The benefits are endless." Because the skate park is cement we have also provided a safe place to practice for our BMXers. They finally have a place to call home to skate & ride in peace. I also want to mention that before Donate To Skate was created there were other groups of people in our town that also took on the challenge to construct a skate park. To all of you many thanks for your effort & raising awareness regarding this important need. Donations: For a complete list of donations go to the "DONATE" page on this web-site.

To end this tribute of thanks to everyone who helped in any way is a bit of a challenge because I want to express the depth of my gratitude. I've written it from my heart in the first person but my hope is that you understand I'm writing this on behalf of everyone involved. My hope is that everyone realizes the full meaning of this huge effort. The skate park symbolizes that we have an opportunity to contribute to the quality of life in our town. We can have faith in our hopes & realize our dreams working together. We've proved it can be done!

CONGRATULATIONS NEWTOWN, CT!

Sincerely,
Lori Capozziello,
Past Chair, Donate to Skate