Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark
Trevor Staples has been an Ann Arbor skateboarder since 1982. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Trevor has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of the local skate scene for over 25 years. Now a teacher at Ann Arbor’s Burns Park elementary school, he sees firsthand the need for a safe, legal place for kids (and grown-ups) to skateboard, inline and rollerskate. In the spring of 2007, Trevor jumped head-first into the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, and hasn’t looked back. He is committed to building strong relationships in the local community to make a free, permanent, concrete skatepark a reality in Ann Arbor.
Crystle Partington was raised in Texas, and moved to Michigan in 1988. She has two children who were born in Ann Arbor and attend the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Building on her interest inlandscaping, she started a local gardening company in early 2006. Since she was 12 years old, Crystle has supported, and been surrounded by the skate scene. For over 20 years, she’s seen first-hand the trials and tribulations in the skate community. Now mother to a young skateboarder, she understands even more the importance of creating a safe, legal, fun environment for skateboarders and inliners. Crystle joined the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee’s Steering Committee in the fall of 2007.
Chris Cassell started skating in the late eighties on the eastside of Detroit. After a brief hiatus from skateboarding in the 1990s, he started back up again just as the next wave of concrete skateparks was built. An Ann Arbor resident since 1999, Chris dreams of teaching his two young children to skate in Ann Arbor's own public concrete skatepark.
Jim Reische is the Committee's fundraising co-chair. Born in New Hampshire, he has lived in Ann Arbor on and off since 1984. He holds graduate degrees in Russian studies from Harvard and Michigan, and currently works in the University of Michigan's Office of University Development. He previously worked in academic publishing, after stints earlier in his life as a cab driver, roadie, carpenter, cook and movie projectionist. Drawn to the skatepark by a desire to honor the memory of Martin Friedmann, a friend and one of Ann Arbor's great skaters, he believes a high-quality park is essential if the city wants to retain its reputation as one of America's healthiest cities, and one of the best places in the country to raise a family. Jim hasn't been on a skateboard since he was about 10, but has vowed to defy the conventions of middle age and drop in as soon as the park is built.
Gregg Iddings was raised in Ida, Michigan and attended the UM in Ann Arbor in the late 80s. He discovered skateboarding in his mid-thirties when his son began to skate and skating has become a family affair. He is very involved in athletics himself as a five-time Ironman triathlon finisher. Gregg is also involved in promoting youth fitness through his efforts coaching soccer and baseball, sponsoring and promoting youth mountain bike races and helping to bring a skatepark to the City of Adrian where he is a Probate Court Judge. Gregg looks forward to skating with his son in Ann Arbor's public skatepark.
After twenty-five years of progressive advancement in real estate management with McKinley, a national real estate investment firm where she supervised multi-million dollar budgets and over 400 employees nationwide, Ann Arbor Skatepark's fundraising co-chair Diana Kern joined NEW Center as the Director of their BoardConnect® program with a commitment to board governance and strong non-profits. Diana also oversees NEW's ResourceConnect® program, which is the nonprofit community's first stop for assistance with management issues. She has served on numerous boards and been involved in non-profit fundraising. She received the Randolph W. White Memorial Award for Community Service in 2003 for her dedication to serving the housing community. She is also a certified trainer with the Institute of Real Estate Management.
Ann Arbor resident since 2001, Lauren Works is employed at Sensitile Systems, a high-tech manufacturing firm in Ypsilanti. She joined A2skatepark in 2008 as a member of the Street Team and now serves on the finance committee. Lauren looks forward to a skatepark that will give her son a safe place to skate with his friends, to be active and stay healthy.
Joe Galante moved to Ann Arbor from Grand Rapids in 2001 to attend the University of Michigan. After graduating he began his career as an information technology specialist in the Zingerman's Community of Businesses. Inspired by the idea to create a public skatepark for the Ann Arbor area and a destination for skaters everywhere, Joe joined the A2skatepark effort in 2009 organizing The Grinds of March, an indoor skate jam attended by 700+ people and featured professional skateboarder Andy Macdonald. Now serving as the secretary of the board of directors Joe is passionately committed to the success of the Ann Arbor Skatepark.
My name is Kristie Brablec, I'm a native of Southeast Michigan and have been working at Zingerman's for the past 7 years. I'm not a skater but have always been friends with and supported those that do, so getting involved seemed like a natural progression. I have a strange attraction to planning large events so in 2009, along with my friend Joe, we approached the steering committee with an idea to hold a large skate event. A year and many labor hours later I now serve at the Events Chair for the Committee and am proud to be part of the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Board of Directors.
Nina Juergens came to Ann Arbor for school in 1986 and never left. Being in close contact with the skater scene since her teenage years, Nina understands firsthand the importance of a safe, permanent place for skateboarding in our community. As owner of Acme Mercantile and Salon Vertigo, Nina brings an expertise of merchandising and marketing to the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark.