SEVEN DAYS: VERMONT’S SKATEBOARDING COMMUNITY RALLIES TO RESURRECT TALENT SKATEPARK AS A NONPROFIT
Reid Hathaway was in kindergarten the first time he visited the now-defunct Talent Skatepark in South Burlington.
“I remember dropping him off the first time for a lesson and thinking, Wow! This is an awesome place and an awesome community!” recalled his mother, Melissa Hathaway. “He immediately took to it.”
When Reid was 8, Hathaway wasn’t sure whether it was OK to leave him alone at Talent to skateboard for an open session until other parents reassured her that he would be fine. Talent, they told her, was a place where kids were taught to be “respectful, responsible and safe” on their skateboards. Helmets were mandatory, and the park’s skateboard coaches, aka “skoaches,” made sure that younger skateboarders didn’t get run over by older and more experienced riders.
