Palmer skaters can shred in style at new skate park

The Valley’s skaters — skateboarding enthusiasts — have lived on the edge of legality and respectability for years. We’re happy to say Palmer’s skaters will soon have a home of their own to shred in style.

Skateboarders are accustomed to being chased from parking lots and shooed away from public buildings. Like rebels of other eras, boarders live on the fringe of respectability. Their sport is a lawsuit waiting to happen for any hapless business owner who has a curb to ollie or rail to grind. Not surprisingly, boarders aren’t welcome in many parking lots.

While Wasilla has had a skate park for several years, it’s not always easy for a kid in Palmer to hitch a ride to the Wasilla park. But thanks to the determined efforts of 17-year-old Colony High senior Cody Vetter and Palmer Mayor John Combs — and many others — the park in Palmer should be a reality this summer.

Skateboard enthusiasts are athletes often personified as being rebels, outsiders and outcasts, but “wheeled” sports, like skateboarding, attract a variety of people, primarily youths, who thrill at the gravity-defying stunts and speed that are the hallmarks of their recreation of choice.

Cody’s mother, Stefanie Vetter, says the park isn’t just a place for kids to hang out, it’s a place for these alternative athletes to ply their craft, hone their skills and get exercise — a great alternative to too much TV, video gaming and obesity. “You can’t beat that,” Vetter says.

She knows some people only see the long hair, odd clothes and silly hats skaters prefer, but she sees kids who are serious about what they do. To promote that, she’d like the new park to host safety and skills seminars and competitions.

“It would give a lot of credibility to it,” she said. “It will also chisel away at that ‘bad boy’ image.”

The skateboard park will show the positive aspect of skating and put skateboarding out in the public eye while getting boarders out of parking lots and away from buildings that can be damaged by their high-rolling hijinks. The effort to bring a skate part to Palmer isn’t an act of rewarding young scofflaws on wheels after years of issuing them tickets. It is giving a group of legitimate athletes an appropriate venue — a venue they will have to help keep clean, safe and respectable.

The community has pulled together to help make the park a reality, and donations of labor and materials will complete the park this summer. Anyone interested in being involved in the effort may contact Stefanie Vetter at 355-0481 or attend the next public hearing about the facility 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, at Palmer City Hall.

As for Cody Vetters, whose petition drive started the skateboard rolling, he expects to be headed to Spokane, Wash., to college in the fall. His mother said he’s undecided about a career, but would like to tie it into skateboarding — perhaps graphic design or architecture.

We think he’s already started a good foundation with the park he will leave behind in Palmer.