To celebrate National Go Skateboarding Day and the first day of summer, the Town of Manchester is closing down York Street so skaters in the area can bomb the hill and then the Manchester Skatepark Project is hosting a skate jam.
Skaters will meet at the MSP booth at Christmas Tree Park around 6:30 p.m. on June 21 before walking over to the top of York Street as a group.
“Then we are going to bomb the hill [down to the Activities Building entrance before Locust Street],” said MSP organizer Matthew Freyer this week.
For those unfamiliar with the term “bomb,” “it’s basically just everyone skating down the hill as fast as they can at the same time,” he said.
“We are encouraging people, even if you don’t know how to do this, to still come out,” said Freyer. “You can even sit on the skateboard and go down the hill if you like. … Everyone should be on their skateboards. If you have a skateboard, you should be on your skateboard.”
At 7:30 p.m., skaters will head back to the Manchester Skatepark for an evening skate jam with cash prizes, music, food and giveaways.
“There are no really big events unless you go to D.C. or Philadelphia,” Freyer said, “so I wanted to have a big event right here in a small local hometown [and Manchester has been] totally on-board since we started working with them on the skate park. They have been very open to ideas, and we are just trying to inspire people.”
The Manchester Skatepark Project has been hosting events and fundraisers to renovate the old skatepark since earlier this year. More information on the event can be found on the MSP Facebook page and direct donations can be made to their GoFundMe campaign. MSP has raised almost $6,000 of their $10,000 goal.
