Lebanon, NH ? If only Tyler Kirschner (Rusty Berrings) had lived to see this: Hundreds of friends and strangers, ranging from toddlers wobbling on tiny bicycles to scruffy men hurtling by on skateboards, all there Saturday afternoon in service of a dream that Kirschner himself started with a ragtag group of high school friends and skateboarding enthusiasts last year.
The event marked the reopening of the skatepark at Riverside Park on Glen Road under its new name, Rusty Berrings Skatepark , in honor of the skateboarding nickname of Kirschner, who suffered from mental illness and died last November at the age of 28.
It was a picture-perfect September afternoon, just a couple of dead leaves drifting onto a long ramp leading into a pit studded with sloped concrete structures, atop which skateboarders might pause for a moment or two to chat before attempting their next trick.
Kirschner?s father, Buddy Kirschner, and his older brother, Seth Kirschner, were standing next to the large speakers flanking a pair of folding tables where visitors could pick up a slice of pizza, a bottle of water, or a large sticker in the shape of a skateboard wheel that directed readers to remember Rusty Berrings on his Facebook page.
Less than half of the skatepark has been renovated with the new concrete structures, at a cost of $75,000 that has been raised by Kirschner?s family since his death. They?re trying to raise $200,000 more to replace the rest of the park?s features, which are made of rusting metal and weathered wood..... for the full article.. use this link -
http://www.vnews.com/Lebanon-opens-Rusty-Berrings-Park-4963371