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Boy's letter gets mayor's attention
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - January 19, 2010)
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 Messenger photos by Kristy Zurbrick
Flanked by Ryan Ladd, London’s parks and recreation director, and London Mayor David Eades, 8-year-old Colby Gulick displays the letter he wrote asking the mayor to consider installing a skate park on Park Avenue.
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Colby Gulick, 8, wrote a letter to the mayor of London about the city’s need for a skate park. In return, he and his second-grade classmates at London Elementary got a real, live civics lesson.
Instead of simply writing back, Mayor David Eades and Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Ladd visited the 23 students in teacher Christina Staifer’s classroom on Jan. 14.
“We appreciate your concern and your contact,” Eades told Gulick. “It’s always good to hear from people about what they want and how they want it done.”
In his letter, Gulick, who has been skateboarding since he was 6, wrote: “I love to skateboard but there is no place to skate around London. I noticed a tennis court on Park Ave. that’s not being used. This would make a safe place for a small skate park. This would be safer than skating on the sidewalks, streets, and parking lots.”
Gulick skates at Grove City’s skate park and spent last year traveling around Ohio and to different states as part of a competitive skateboarding team. As it turns out, he’s on the right track with his suggestion for a skate park at the tennis courts, which sit across the street from the London swimming pool.
“Our goal is to have a skate park there,” Ladd told the class.
Reaching that goal comes down to money. The rough cost is $25,000. Eades told the students the city’s money is tight right now. The recreation budget has been cut, the pool won’t be open this summer, and city council has put a freeze on capital improvements.
“Everything doesn’t work just perfect in government,” he said.
That’s why, Ladd explained, the city tries to get “free” money in the form of grants to help pay for special projects. Four years ago, he applied to the Tony Hawk Foundation for a grant to help build a skate park in London.
Ladd showed Gulick and his classmates, seven of whom own skateboards, skate park designs that were part of the application process. They voted for their favorites, and Ladd made a note of the design that got the most votes.
While the grant didn’t come through in 2006, the city is eligible to apply again in 2011. Ladd said he will start working on the application later this year. Like last time, he plans to visit the school to get students’ input. He also plans to include Gulick’s letter in the application and encouraged other students to put their wishes in writing, too.
Eades provided the class with not only his address, but also those of London’s city councilmen.
“If they hear from a lot of you that we need a skate park, that will help move the project along,” he said.
Gulick started writing his letter at home then edited and revised it at school. He sent it to Eades at the end of November.
“We regularly set aside time for students to write about topics they choose on their own. The skate park was Colby’s choice,” Staifer said.
In his letter, Gulick politely asked the mayor to consider his idea. He included his address and phone number, in case the mayor wanted to discuss it further.
“I was just hoping for a letter back,” he said.
“We were surprised when the mayor called and asked if he could come in,” Staifer said.
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 Colby Gulick's classmates pose with (back row) London Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Ladd, their teacher Christinia Staifer, and London Mayor David Eades.
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