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Family Fun 5K Run, Walk and Roll to benefit skatepark

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Continuing their efforts to have a skatepark in town, Ramona Skatepark Champions will hold a Family Fun 5K Run, Walk and Roll at the Olive Peirce Middle School track on Saturday, May 30.

Registration is $35 and includes access to all events: Competitive 5K Run/Walk at 8 a.m., Family Fun Run, Walk and Roll at 10 a.m., and Tot Trot for ages 5 and younger at noon (free). Check-in is, respectively, 7 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Also planned are a skogging clinic with professional skogger Steven Medeta at 8 a.m., an exhibition from Inky’s Pro Scooter Team at 11 a.m., an all-day silent auction and opportunity drawings.

Big Dev’s Barbecue and other food will be available.

All advance registration is online at www.ramonaskatepark.org/events/5k-run-walk-roll. Those registering online will receive a free Ramona Skatepark Champions 5K T-shirt.

T-shirts for those registering the day of the event will be $10.

“Let’s Build This!” is the Ramona Skatepark Champions motto. Building on previous skatepark attempts, a small but determined group led by Tracy Engel and Dwight Webster started meeting last summer and has a Facebook page.

“We are building on the shoulders of the people before us, and we also have our mentors,” said Webster.

Representatives of Lakeside’s skatepark, which the county built on county property, have attended Ramona Skatepark Champions meetings, and Ramonans have attended meetings in Lakeside. The Lakeside park is one year old this month.

The county has two requirements, said Webster: A maintenance bond of about $70,000 and popular support. Money to build the park will come from Park Land Dedication Ordinance money and other sources, he said.

Plans are for the skatepark to be near the library in the 1200 block of Main Street.

Of the $70,000 goal, $2,200 has been raised. Half of that came from the Skate Band Jam held in the Ramon Music Center parking lot in April.

The $70,000 will ensure about five years of county maintenance costs, so each year the Champions will hold one or two events to replenish the fund, said Webster.

The group is in the process of establishing a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Because it needed one to put on the 5K event, Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, a 501(c)(3) organization, stepped forward as a sponsor, said Engel.

“The bridging together of our community is one of the things that has given me joy on this project so far,” she said.

Peter San Nicolas of Ramona Fitness Center is helping, and fitness experts and trainers will be at the event. Other businesses such as Ramona Disposal and Sludgebusters are involved, and Michael Hughes will be the timer, said Engel.

“Following a theme that we’ve experienced on this project since we launched it, the community is really coming through at every level, from donating products and services to participating with our Facebook auctions online and continuing our conversation,” she said.

Webster invites anyone with questions about the 5K fundraiser to contact him at 760-716-3229.

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