Skaters and Advocates collaborating with Town government and community to construct a state-of-the-art skatepark at the Crowell Lot in Brattleboro.

Help us make the Brattleboro Skate Park a reality by emailing us at sk8brattleboro@gmail.com – tell us your name and how you think you can help.

We are fundraising and preparing to hire a design/build firm.  Let’s get this park built!

Brattleboro Area Skatepark Is Coming Advisory Committee Voting Members

Martin Vallender, President

Marty Vallender lives and works in Brattleboro.  He has enjoyed board sports since a young age and had an opportunity to share his passion with others as a supervisor for the Mountain Sports School at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, WY.  He has guided youth on day and overnight bike trips, hiking trips and kayak trips in the Teton Mountains and Downeast Maine.  He is and has been an active participant in youth related programming in many communities as he searched for a permanent place to call home. Recognition of an overall need to develop healthy outlets for youth to engage in outdoor recreation spurs his interest in the development of a skatepark in Brattleboro.  He is excited by the opportunity to create a location that will become an asset to Brattleboro and Windham County and will afford youth and adults alike a positive outlet for their energy and creativity.  A community that supports its young people and chooses progress over stagnancy regarding its urban landscape is exactly the type of community that he wants to call home.

Dennis Wygmans, Vice President

Dennis Wygmans is a twenty-five year music industry veteran, with a career ranging from work as a college radio DJ to representing entertainment industry clients as an attorney.  After a five-year career as a nightclub DJ, Mr. Wygmans opened a live music venue in Burlington, VT with his brother Justin, called Club Toast.  Toast was the first venue of its kind in Burlington attracting performers from around the world, reflecting the diversity of music found globally.  The nightclub was closed on New Year’s Eve in 1998, so that Mr. Wygmans could pursue his dream of becoming an entertainment attorney.  Dennis graduated from Seton Hall Law School in Newark, NJ in 2004, promptly got married to his longtime sweetheart Nicole Curvin, passed the NY and NJ bar exams, and celebrated the Red Sox World Series victory.  Since 2004, Mr. Wygmans has represented clients in all aspects of the arts and entertainment industries, while also representing corporate clients in business negotiations, litigation, and entity organization in New York City.  His wife gave birth to their daughter, Thalia, in 2008, and the family relocated to Brattleboro in the summer of 2009.  He continues to arts and entertainment and business clients with his practice based in Winooski, VT.

Melissa Clark, Treasurer & Secretary

Melissa was born and raised in a small rural Vermont town of 680 people. I earned an associate’s degree in Architectural and Building Engineering Technology from Vermont Technical College, where I met my husband, Jeff. After living and working for a few years in the Burlington area, Jeff and I settled in the Brattleboro area to raise our two sons, Patrick and Andrew. Using my architectural degree, I designed and built our current home in Dummerston seven years ago. After many years of being a “stay-at-home Mom” and dedicated volunteer at our sons’ schools, I stumbled upon a new career at Atamaniuk Funeral Home where I have had the pleasure to meet and serve many within the community.

Growing up in such a small Vermont town, I am well aware of the lack of services offered to many of our youngsters. Unless you enjoy the typical sports such as basketball or baseball, or are involved in theater, there are little to no options in the Brattleboro area (especially those that are free or of minimal expense) to keep our children/teenagers occupied, off the streets, and out of trouble.  It is time for our society to realize that skateboarding, just like baseball or basketball, is a healthy sport, both physically and socially, for people of all ages.

Joe Bushey, Member

Jeff Clark, Member

Jeff Clark grew up in southern New England and attended school in Vermont.  After receiving his Electrical Engineering and Business Management degrees Jeff and his wife Melissa settled down to raise a family in Brattleboro, Vt. in 1996.  He spent many years coaching Brattleboro recreation department sports. Later on his sons turned to snow sports and skateboarding as their main activities.

Jeff jumped at the opportunity to join BASIC in the fall of 2009 and support Brattleboro’s effort to design, fundraise and build a skate park. Providing healthy outdoor activities for the skateboarders of Brattleboro area is something he feels strongly about.

Patrick Clark, Member

I’m Patrick Clark.  I’m 16 and I spend a lot of time skateboarding.  I joined BASIC because I feel that Brattleboro has gone way too long without a skatepark.  Skateboarding is a very important activity for me and many other community members, and right now there is nowhere legal for us to do it.  Skateboarding is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  Skateboarding is fun for me and my friends, and not having anywhere to go is discouraging.  I strongly think that it is time for a skatepark, because the skateboarders of Brattleboro have nowhere to go.

Spencer Crispe, Member

Spencer Crispe is a lifelong Vermont resident and 7th generation Vermonter. He lives in Wilmington, Vermont with his wife Danielle. Spencer works in Brattleboro as an attorney at Crispe and Crispe Law Offices. He is the 4th generation of attorneys from his family to practice law in Brattleboro. He interests include: Making maple syrup, skiing, civil rights advocacy, skateboarding, heavy metal and punk rock.

He is a big advocate of the straight edge philosophy (which means abstaining from drugs, alcohol and tobacco completely). He has been straight edge for over 18 years. He feels that drugs and alcohol cut into valuable time that could much better be spent learning to kickflip a pyramid while listening to Minor Threat.

Spencer started skateboarding in 1985 and has been a dedicated 100% skateboarder ever since. He enjoys street, ramp, bowls, and all kinds of terrain to skate. Spencer is involved in numerous volunteer groups and committees in both Wilmington and Brattleboro. He is especially interested in helping to improve the community by reaching out to youth and working to provide awesome, healthy outlets for youth to engage in such as skateboarding.

Adam Hubbard, Member

Francine Vallario, Member

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FRIENDS OF BASIC

Luke Q. Stafford

Spawned from the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, Luke cut his teeth as a writer for local newspapers, eventually earning his journalism degree from Saint Michael’s College. After a few years of living and traveling out West, he returned to Vermont, settling in the outskirts of Brattleboro. As a new media and public relations specialist, Luke keeps his finger on the pulse of modern communications in the digital age. He spends his free time playing guitar, splitting wood, snowboarding, homebrewing and hanging out on the front porch with a gin and tonic with his beautiful wife, Suzanne.

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