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<p><em>Above: Volunteers work together to remove a section of the old plywood decking at the Port Royal Skate Park on Friday afternoon. About 35 volunteers helped to repair the popular park.</em> <em>Photos by Bob Sofaly</em><br><br><strong>By Bob Sofaly</strong></p>
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<p>A small army of about 35 volunteers from all walks of life converged on the Port Royal Skate Park on Friday and Saturday to do one thing – renovate the park to make it safe for skateboarders and BMX cyclists.</p>
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<p>Many of the ramp surfaces were worn and sagging in the middle and all the metal rails were worn and rusted. The popular park had not been renovated or repaired since 2017 and was in dire need of serious work, according to Rev. Conrad Meier, Pastor of Praise Assembly of God.</p>
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<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/07092021-Skate-Park-Makeover1-9649.jpeg"><img src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/07092021-Skate-Park-Makeover1-9649-746x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-51221"/></a><figcaption><em>Rafael Nieves, a BMX cyclist, volunteers his time to help repair the Port Royal skatepark on Friday afrernoon. Here he uses a claw hammer and a pry bar to pull up the plywood decking of one of the worn ramps.</em><br></figcaption></figure></div>
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<p>Meier said many people and companies, including the Town of Port Royal, chipped in money to purchase materials specific to skateboarding. Skate Lite and Transformer Rails, companies dedicated to the popular sport, sold their surface and infrastructure materials for half price.</p>
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<p>Sagging plywood and wooden frames were cut out and replaced, as were as all the metal rails.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/07092021-Skate-Park-Makeover-2-8235.jpeg"><img src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/07092021-Skate-Park-Makeover-2-8235-1024x808.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-51223"/></a><figcaption><em>The Rev. Conrad Meier, Pastor of Praise Assembly of God, cuts one of the legs off a rail at the Port Royal Skateboard Park. </em></figcaption></figure>
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<p><br>“You know when you hear people say ‘someone needs to do something’ about a particular problem?” Meier said while cutting away a heavily rusted hand rail. “Well, I am that somebody.”</p>
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<p>“We are ALL that somebody,” he said proudly while looking around at all the volunteers working.</p>
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