Save My Dad's Memorial Skatepark

My dad Glenn Hart passed away in 1998 from endocarditis, a heart infection. My brothers and I were 3, 5, and 7. He co-owned Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant and was a beloved member of the Lakes Region community in New Hampshire. We've heard he was a wonderful man, but we never had the chance to really meet him. However, after his death a fund was started in his name. The money raised was used to build a skatepark in the early 2000s. My brothers and I, essentially, grew up at that skatepark—The Glenn Hart Memorial Skatepark. We loved it so much. It was our place of joy and play and where we gathered to spend time with our friends. Today, the skatepark has fallen into neglect and ruin. The town of Meredith has an insurance policy that requires that an attendant be present to watch the park. To avoid paying someone to watch it the past few years Meredith has dramatically reduced the skatepark hours. It's only open in the summertime now for a few hours on the weekends. In addition to this, this wood-and-sheet-metal park has not aged handsomely. The pavement is riddled with cracks. The wood is weathered and the metal is an unhappy minefield of paint chips. For us, and many others, it's heartbreaking.

All of the money from this campaign will go toward renovating my dad's skatepark and helping the town of Meredith to find a better way of managing it. I have been to public skateparks around the country—and no other skatepark requires a paid attendant to have the facility supervised. In addition to bringing about a change in this policy, I'd like to rebuild the park in a smaller scale in concrete—just a few modest features that would endure the harsh New England climate. It was such a wonderful facility for the community when I was a kid, and it helped my brothers and me feel connected to our dad in a way that relieved us of the constant sorrow of his absence. Please donate and share this video. It would mean the world to our family and provide such an amazing space for our community.