Meredith Village Savings Bank donates $25,000 to skate park

MEREDITH — Meredith Village Savings Bank has contributed $25,000 to the Hart Family Memorial Skate Park. The gift will go toward the rehabilitation and renovation of the skate park, formerly known as the Glenn Hart Memorial Skate Park.

Glenn Hart, former co-owner of Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant in Meredith, died in 1998, and a memorial fund established in his honor covered the construction of a skateboard park in 2003. Since then, the condition of the park compelled Brendan Hart, Glenn’s son, to initiate a fundraising effort in 2017 to repair and renovate the structure. 

“My brothers and I grew up at that skate park,” wrote Brendan Hart on the project’s initial GoFundMe post. “Today, the skate park has fallen apart. This wood-and-sheet-metal park has not aged handsomely. For us, and many others, it's heartbreaking. All of the money from this campaign will go toward renovating my dad's park.”

Plans for the new park grew to incorporate all-concrete construction so it would require little maintenance and upkeep.

Linda Hart-Buuck, Brendan Hart’s mother, served as the president of the Friends of Meredith Parks and Recreation and assisted in the fundraising efforts until her sudden death on Jan. 9, 2019. Peter Thorndike became the nonprofit’s new president and has been working with Brendan Hart to finish the project, which they renamed to honor Linda as well as Glenn. 

After the Tony Hawk Foundation announced a $25,000 donation to the Hart Family Memorial Skate Park, local service organizations began following suit. The entire project is seeking to surpass its fundraising goal of $232,000.

“We’re very grateful to Meredith Village Savings Bank and their generous contribution to rebuild the Hart Family Memorial Skate Park,” said Thorndike. “The bank’s gift is sure to have a lasting impact on community members and visitors for generations to come.”

Rick Wyman, president of Meredith Village Savings Bank, said, “MVSB is happy to do all we can to support the Hart Family Memorial Skate Park. It has been popular with the youth and families of our area and we are proud to support the efforts to renovate and improve safety. The park offers an opportunity for something fun and different from traditional organized sports. This way, even the youth less inclined to participate in organized sports are able to get fresh air, challenge themselves and build their coordination and physical skills.

Those wishing to donate toward the project may mail them to Friends of Meredith Parks and Recreation, 1 Circle Drive, Meredith, NH, 03253, with “Skate Park” noted in the memo field.