Blog

Can drive March 14, 2009

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:08:00 -0500

In addition to the Valentine dance that was held by the committee members on Feb. 14, 2009, we will be preparing for a returnables drive on Sat. March 14th from 11-2pm. We ask that the citizens of Yale have their bags/ boxes of cans and bottles on their porch by 11am for pick up. Anyone interested in contributing to our fundraiser that lives outside Yale city limits is asked to drop off their contributions to 3 Jones Street. If you have a sizable donation, but no way to transport it uptown, please call Jen at 810-304-1030, and I will be glad to make arrangements to pick it up. Every little bit helps, so please pass the word.

My co-coordinator Debbie has been laying the tracks to begin the grant process also. So if you or someone you know has a good tip on a grant we may not have been introduced to, we'd love to hear from you. I know there are literally dozens available, but it is possible we have not heard of it yet. So please, any info. would be so helpful. You can email me at jennieking1972@yahoo.com.

As always, the more community involvement, the better. And we really appreciate everything you all have done so far! We sure hope to have a skate park completed by summer of 2010. Please help us make this dream a reality.

Blessings! Jen King

Update

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:57:46 -0400

Well, we are finally working on our design. The skate park committee members have taken a vote and made a list of what we would like to see at our park. After we decided what was going to make a great park, we sent our list to Rampage Design and with a few adjustments, we have what we think is IT! (See our home page for design pic.)

As you all know, we were full steam ahead for a concrete park. After many hours of work with various companies, the price for a concrete park doubled. With our proposed $200,000 budget, we were informed that all we could get was a small bowl. Well that just won't do, we decided. So after much thought, we chose to go with a metal frame park that would be coated with a composite material. Believe me, we did our research, and we can get the most "bang for our buck", as well as an excellent flow and ride, with this type of park.

Thus far, we have raised over $12,000.00, and are beginning the next stage of fundraising... applying for grants. Our hope is that we can break ground next year and begin construction. We are currently taking bids on such things as the excavating, concrete (slab), fencing, and landscaping so that we may get a more definate total for grant applications. Any help with these areas would be fantastic. Please email me at jennieking1972@yahoo.com if you know someone that may help.

I will continue to keep you all posted as strides are made, and I'd like to thank everyone who has been involved thus far, businesses, our committee and volunteers, EVERYONE! Keep up the good work!

Keep on ridin'! Jen

Texas Hold Em

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:11:01 -0400

Our Texas Hold Em tournament was last night, and although it wasn't a great turnout, we did pretty good! The skate park made made $420.00! Thanks to Debbie and Ray for putting it all together, and thanks to Paul McIvor for the use of the VFW Hall!

The first place winner was Mike Koroka, second place went to Alta (my neighbor), and third went to Gary Kettlewell.

Congratulations and thanks all!!

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:39:19 -0400

Hi all! I haven't posted a blog in a while, been very busy here. So I thought I'd take a minute and do so.

As you can see from our home page, I have installed a thermometer to show where we are at and where we need to be. To some it doesn't look like much, but to those of us who have contributed from the beginning, it's very exciting!

We have our "last" Teen Dance set for the season. I hate to put an end to them, they are so fun and such a great fundraisier, but with the summer months, we can do so much more outside than just dances. I want to personally thank everyone involved, from the kids who come to the parents who chaperone, to our super DJ, Jay Margena.

We are currently planning a "Rock the Park" event, where we plan to have bands from far and near to play at the Brockway Twp. Park. Raffles, food and drink, should be a great event! If you or someone you know can really ROCK, and would like to donate your bands time, please call me! (See contacts page), we'd love to hear from you!

Snowball Dance a success!

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:45:12 -0500

Our Snowball Dance held Sat. Dec. 9th was great! We raised just over $1,000.00!! Thanks to all the businesses for the great raffle gifts, and a special thanks to the Keystone Cops for all their help! And thanks to everyone that attended!

On top of the fun evening, the Yale Chamber of Commerce gifted $1,000.00 to the skate park fund! What a night!

Thanks again to everyone involved!! (See the Yale Expositor for our THANK YOU ad detailing the businesses that donated) :)

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:01:11 -0500

Well, our meeting last night was a success!! The Brockway Twp. board unanimously decided it was in everyone's best interest for us to start looking into designs for a concrete park!!!!! YEAH! Smart folks there! And I of course couldn't agree more. Of all the types of parks, it will outlast all of us! And if you spend that kind of money, you need to be sure to build it right. We will now start the process of having some chosen designers/ builders see what they can come up with for us. Hopefully we will be able to afford what we want. We'll keep you posted as things happen.

Now the bad news... I am sorry to say that there was also a unanimous vote by the Board deciding no bikes will be allowed. You just cannot fight the statistics, and unfortunatly statistics show that bikes really tear up the parks.

I hope there is no animosity between groups because of this. The best thing I can say is If you are a hard core bike rider, like our family is hard core skaters, than take the initiative and get something built for the bikes? Why not? Don't say it can't be done...That's how we got started! :)

Our goal is to raise approx. $200,000 which will include the actual park, site preparation, as well as fencing and benchs and possibly a nice path around the fence area to walk or practice.

Well there you have it. Great news as far as I am concerned, but I have to run. Busy, busy, much work to be done now. Our next steps will be of course the dance this Sat., but meantime I will contact these companies, as well as local site prep people, and get the design ball rolling. Then we will start applying for grants and plan our next fundraisers, which will be awesome, so stick around and have fun! Don't forget to call me and volunteer your time! :)

Peace! Jen

Brockway Twp. Board Meeting

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:07:20 -0500

There will be a meeting on Dec. 4th at 7:30pm to discuss the designs and cost of our soon-to-be skatepark. This meeting will not set the design in stone, but only to show the board various types of parks we could have, and approximate pricing. I have been working on various concepts for over a month, and have approximate pricing for all. What I would like to see from the general public is their input on what types of elements they would like to see at our park. If you have input on this, please attend the meeting, or email me at jennieking1972@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear from you!!

Skate Competition- Fun for ALL!

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:57:12 -0500

I'm not sure who had more fun? The talented kids and young adults who performed, or the audience who watched! What a great show! We have such talent in our town! And after seeing it all come together, it only made me more excited than ever to get our skate park here and have it as great as our skaters! Thanks so much to all who came and all the area businesses who donated for the first place prizes! Our committee members deserve kudos for another great job! A big thanks to Brockway Township Hall for the tables and chairs and their ongoing support, The United Methodist Church for the use of their parking lot, the Yale Family Restaurant for their electric hook ups and use of their facilities, and to Pepsi for the cases of pop! It wouldn't be possible without your contributions, so please keep them coming! And here are the winners of the competition:

Skateboard: 45 sec. run, 1st- Benjamen Berkobien, 2nd- Cory Bosman, 3rd- Bobby Hill
                  Best Trick, 1st- Bobby Hill, 2nd- Cory Bosman, 3rd- Benjamen Berkobien
                  Jam Session winner- Bradley Berkobien
Blades: 45 sec. run, 1st - Cody Markham, 2nd - Tyler Schmall, 3rd - Naseen Strgill
            Best Trick, 1st- JJ Constance, 2nd- Cody Markham, 3rd- Tyler Schmall
            Jam Session winner- JJ Constance
Bikes: 45sec. run, 1st- John Plotkowski, 2nd- Collin Quint, 3rd- Tyler Tice
          Best Trick, 1st- John Plotkowski, 2nd- Collin Quint, 3rd- Matt Robinson
          Jam Session winner- John  Plotkowski

First place winners were awarded gift certificates and/or mug as donated by various local businesses, a B.T.S.P. T-shirt of their choice, and a ribbon.
Second place received a B.T.S.P. T- shirt and ribbon.
Third place received a B.T.S.P. T-shirt.

Congratulations to all!!!! You are ALL winners to me!
(Don't forget to visit our pictures page for some shots of the event!)

So far... So good!

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:47:21 -0400

It's hard to believe that it was just a short time ago that the fundraisers kicked off! For a couple of moms with not much fundraising experience, I must say we are learning as we go! As for the rummage sale, we will definately have another go at this. Maybe the winter months when most "garage salers" can't wait until spring? We'll see. But as far as our supporters, they NEVER cease to amaze me! I would love to post every name of every person that came by to donate items, buy a shirt or just to show their support. Parents, kids, even prestigous members of our B.T. officers! A great many thanks goes out to all! The mornings were the best, the afternoons tapered off, and by late afternoon, it was a ghost town. So we did decide to pack things up earlier than the original 6pm we had decided. I hope this didn't put out anyone, because we certainly appreciate everything that everyone had done. A big thanks to Vinckier's for the hot dogs! And thanks to the Twp. Hall for use of the facility, and the committee members and parents and friends that volunteered their time and so many AWESOME items! It's going to be a long road ahead, and we hope that everyone has the stamina to hang in there with us, but so far we are all very thankful for so many supporters! Can't wait to see you all again at the next event!

FUN-draisers!

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:39:55 -0400

We have so many great plans in the works for the coming months. It takes alot of preparation to get our events planned and executed, but more importantly...VOLUNTEERS! If you have a couple hours here or there, that's all we need. So many fun activities are in the works, but we need your help! Please call Jen or Deb (info. on our contacts page) and let us know you support our projects and even if you only have limited time available, you'd make a big difference to so many. Just call us up and give us your name and number. You don't need to be at every function, but if we have more parent involvement, we can split up our time and have MORE FUNDRAISERS!! And keep checking the website as we are constantly adding new events for all ages!