More Than A Banksgiving Jam - Newark Valley’s New Nick Wilson Memorial Park
FatTony
- October 12 2009
- 19 comments
This past weekend I was touched. I witnessed firsthand the emotions of the family of a BMX rider who passed away while serving our country in Iraq. And I witnessed the emotions of a small village community that has just been blessed with a place to ride every day. This is my story of the Nike 6.0 Banksgiving Jam in Newark Valley, New York.
How It Came To Be
Last year in 2008 Nike 6.0 held an online contest where, in 150 words or less, entrants had to explain why they thought they deserved a mini ramp in their backyard. The idea was to give a kid his personal dream setup, but that original intent changed after the people at Nike read Nick Marzolino’s essay. Nick didn’t want a mini ramp for himself. Instead he wrote about how his village of Newark Valley, with lass than one square mile of land mass and little more than 1,000 residents could use the ramp as a memorial to honor Nicholas Wilson, a BMX rider who grew up in the town and was killed while on duty serving in the war in Iraq. The people at Nike were so touched by the story they decided to give more than just a min ramp-they wanted to give an entire skatepark to the community and hold a Banksgiving Jam in the town. Well, a few years of setbacks went by and most people in Newark Valley had lost hope in the park getting built. But after a ton of hard work and dedication from lots of people, everything finally came together and plans for the park and for the Banksgiving Jam were set. So in the first week of October John Saxton got to work on the park, and on October 10, 2009 the ramps was officially opened as the Nicholas Wilson Memorial Bike and Skate Park.
The new setup in Newark Valley. Photo by Fat.
The Day Of
Right after getting off my plane in Upstate, New York I started hearing stories of how ramp builder John Saxton was now a local hero, and how excited everyone in the town was to have the park finally become a reality. And when we pulled into Newark Valley on the morning of the jam, I got to see these stories with my own eyes. It was drizzling and very overcast, but there were still dozens of people gathered around. There were color guard men standing at attention, young kids in helmets and pads eagerly waiting to get on the ramps for the first time, and a line of people waiting to speak and cut the ceremonial ribbon.
An overview of the ribbon cutting ceremony. Photo by Fat.
The first one to speak was Nicholas Wilson’s brother, and from his first few sentences I was already starting to get choked up. He said as happy as he was to have the ramps in his town, and as many kids would get enjoyment out of them, he’d give the ramps right back just to spend an afternoon with his brother.
Hearing news of a war on television, or reading about it in various headlines keeps you extremely distant from emotions dealing with the circumstances. But seeing someone talk about a family member that was killed in the war, and seeing how much of an impact one death can have on a community starts to put things into perspective and really gives it a personal touch that is difficult to describe. After seeing Nicholas’ family speak to their village, I honestly felt like my cross-country trip would have been worth it even if that were the only thing I got to see. But it didn’t end there…
Nick Marzolino (essay winner) and John Saxton (ramp builder) holding the ribbon before it was cut. Photo by Fat.
After the ribbon was cut, and the park was officially opened and riders from as far as four hours away flocked into the fenced off area to hang out, ride, get free stuff, and enjoy the day. The rain stopped, and at times the clouds parted so the sun could shine through and before the session got too heavy Nicholas Wilson’s father helpy dry all the ramps using a flame thrower-a true testament to how dedicated the family was to making the day a success.
Over the next few hours, people rode and some decent stuff went down. But even though this site is based heavily on great riding, this day was not about the tricks people were doing on the ramps, and I don’t feel the need to talk much about what went down.
Australian rider Todd Meyn made the trip out to show his support. Tailwhip on the quarter. Photo by Fat.
What I’d really like to get across is how great BMX was on this day at uniting a community, bringing people together, and making a difference in people’s lives. The village of Newark Valley touched me this weekend, and I want to sincerely thank them for their hospitality and the experience they allowed me to have in their town.
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October 12th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
we’re going to paint em and buy tarps for winter..nice article man! it was all about the fun that day and Nick Willison and his memorey
October 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Great picture Josh!!
October 12th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
name is Niles Harris
October 12th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
we all know mario is niles just giving his own name haha jk
October 12th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I hope they paint the park or cover it in Skatelite or something
October 12th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
this was sweet. Thats me in picture 37, my name is Josh Serafin.
October 12th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
That was great Josh..
October 12th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
They are going to paint them, John Saxton talked to Kelly Baker about maintenance with the ramps. The ramps still might get skatelited too, but Im not positive.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Nahh this is me and by the way Fat my name is Niles Harris from Albany NY
thanks for the pics
October 13th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Hey just wanted to say pic # 5 of the little guy jumpin is Nick Wilson's nephew. We see that it's one of your favorites tony so thought we'd enlighten you. : )
October 13th, 2009 at 2:24 am
This is an awesome story…very well done. Nike made our dream come true and the community really came together. Who says Owego is the "Coolest Small Town" ???
October 13th, 2009 at 3:50 am
This is a good story all the way around. Well written. I'm "an old guy" who used to race ABA 16 & over ex back in the Stompin Stu Thompson, Eddie King, Bob Haro, etc … days. I was on my way to a football game when I stopped by the skate park to check things out. They really did draw quite a crowd, the guys "EMCeeing it" ( is that even really a word?
) seemed to be genuinely having fun and getting the riders and kids stoked, etc. Anyway - I grabbed a few photo's before heading off to the football game - you can find them:
here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanvers/3999479300/
here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanvers/3998714551/...
and here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdanvers/3999477060/...
I have no idea who they are, but maybe you or some of your readers will.
-=- jd -=-
October 13th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
that's super. instead of a bike park, i'd ask for some help on changing the bike situation we have here in hawaii. Actually bmx in hawaii is sort of outlawed. People around here haven't ever heard of bikes in skate paks or ever seen bike tricks, and then there are that 2% of people who actually know the sport. We are not hated by the people, the people just needs to be a little bit more open minded.
October 13th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
1st pic I think is Chris Hallman's daughter?
2nd pic is Tim Coyne
October 13th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
this is awesome
October 14th, 2009 at 11:15 am
1st pic is a boy named Ever. He is part of Chris's family.
October 14th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
yay my hometown finally got a park!!! wish i could been there, but ill be home tomorrow!
October 14th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Mike!!! Wish you were there! You were in on it in the beginning! Now you have a good excuse to visit.
October 17th, 2009 at 5:10 am
newark valley is a great town. remembering riding to owego just to ride the park with 3 ramps. kelly baker is a great dood. he does alot for the town. he built ramps in his back yard for us to ride. when ever we wanted. thanks to nick for winning, kelly baker, nike, and all the kids for showing up. means alot to the small town. couldnt make it stuck in tennessee.