About 60 people, the great majority of them skaters and young people, came to Slauson Middle School on October 18th to give their input on what they’d like to see in the Ann Arbor Skatepark. We had a good representation from our City and County governments as well. Ann Arbor City Council members Mike Anglin, Carsten Hohnke and (soon to be councilmember) Steve Kunselman attended, as did Washtenaw County commissioner Conan Smith. Landscape architects Amy Kuraz and Jeff Dehring from the City and County, respectively, were on hand to find out more about the project, and give their input.

The Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee will host Wally Hollyday Design at a public skatepark design input meeting on October 18 at 2 p.m. in the Slauson Middle School cafeteria., 1019 W. Washington. There is no charge for attendance.

The meeting will be a workshop format, with hands-on participation by local skaters, interested community members and city staff. Wally Hollyday will present a visual representation that includes images and illustrations of skate parks he has created.

As we see the end of 2009 on the horizon, we’ve been looking back at our successes, as well as looking forward to what’s to come in 2010 and beyond. Without the support of the Washtenaw County community, we couldn’t be where we are today: on the brink of creating Ann Arbor’s largest public recreation project in the past 25 years.

You're invited to an exciting FREE "field trip" that the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee has planned for October 3rd. We'll be taking a group trip to the Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills. We'd love to have you come along to see what a world-class skatepark looks like, talk to people from the Farmington Hills community and Government about what it's meant to their City, and skate with us (if that's something you're interested in). If you'd like to join us, let us know ASAP. The seats on the bus will fill up fast! Here are the details:

Show your support for public skateparks by helping out at the best skatepark in Michigan!

This coming Saturday, September 26, Plus Skateboarding is putting on their Fall Classic skateboarding contest. This contest will be held at Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills and is open to anyone who wants to compete. Registration starts at 9:00 AM, with the beginner divisions starting at 11:00 AM sharp!

To show our support for public skateparks, the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee is organizing a group of people to come check out the contest, then help clean up the park afterward. Please put on your A2 Skatepark t-shirt, and join us to watch the advanced competition at 4:00 PM, then stay to show your support by lending a hand getting the Riley Skatepark looking top-notch. We'll be bringing rakes and trashbags along to help us get the park into tip-top shape. Don't have an A2 Skatepark shirt? Well get down to the Vault of Midnight, Launch Board Shop, or Acme Mercantile and get yourself one!

We are lucky to have so many public skateparks in Michigan. We're even luckier to have the best public skatepark in Michigan within an hour of Ann Arbor. Soon we'll have our own great public skatepark, and it's important to show the general public that we intend to care for our park as if we own it. Why? Because we do!

Please come out to Riley Skatepark on Saturday, September 26 to show your support of public skateparks (and have fun!). For more information, please contact trevor@a2skatepark.org

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our informational booth at the Ann Arbor Art Fair! Thanks especially to our wonderful volunteers who took some time to work the booth. This effort is built on volunteerism. We couldn't do it without YOU!

At the Art Fair booth we were giving raffle tickets out for a $1 donation to the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee. We got 683 entries for seven awesome prizes. We drew the winners at random, and here they are.

The Ann Arbor Art Fair(s) are this week, and we'll again have a booth in the non-profit section. We'll be located right in front of Seva Restaurant... IN THE SHADE! Click here for a map of the exact location.

Stop by the booth for all your a2skatepark needs: information, shirts, stickers, and a sweeeeet raffle! Big thanks to Launch Board Shop, Vault of Midnight, and Acme Mercantile for their generous support in sponsoring our t-shirts! All the donations for the raffle and swag at the booth goes to shore up our operating fund. This fund helps us put on events throughout the year, and helps us to put together our top-notch fundraising packets that we use when seeking out large donors. Our Art Fair booth proceeds are crucial to us making it through the year financially.

For those of you who attended the awesomely successful art show at the Vault of Midnight, and for those who may have missed it, the 49 skateboard decks will be moving to the Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty, where they will be on display for two weeks.

The show will kick-off with a reception on Friday, June 19, from 6-8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Members of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee will be on hand at the reception to answer questions and help educate the community about the campaign to build a public skatepark in Ann Arbor.

Supporters filled the Vault of Midnight to overflowing last night for our first-ever Skate Art Show. Even the occasional thunderstorm didn't slow the turnout: an estimated 400 Ann Arborites of all ages made it downtown to the show, which featured dazzling art, amazing tunes, good food and a great time in support of the Skatepark.

The 2009 Ann Arbor Skatepark Art Show is tonight from 7:00-10:00 pm at the Vault of Midnight, 219 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

We've had nearly 50 artists create works of art from skateboard decks. We'll be auctioning off the winning decks (as determined by our celebrity judges) in a live auction starting at 8pm. The rest of the decks will be silent-auctioned between 7 and 9:30 pm. Come bid on your favorite!

Here's the list of artists: