Skateboard angels keeping park clean

 I am writing this letter to compliment and praise the young people using the Woodland Park Skateboard Park this year.

I am an O.C.L.P.U. (Obsessive-Compulsive Litter-Picker-Upper). I can’t walk past a piece of litter without picking it up. 

Since the skateboard park was built, I would drop by the area occasionally to pick up litter. In years past, the place would be trashed. There were cans, bottles, food wrappers, cigarette butts etc. everywhere.

This year is different. I’ve noticed how clean the young people are keeping the parking lot and surrounding area. It’s really nice. I imagine the kids using the park like it better, too. I believe when a place is clean, it naturally makes a person feel better inside. 

Also, when the area is kept clean, people tend to litter less. It’s a cause-and-effect phenomenon.

It seems the young people this year have taken personal responsibility for the Skateboard Park. 

They treat it like it’s theirs. They are no longer a bunch of young brats, trashing the place and then expecting someone else to come along and pick up after them. They have become responsible young adults.

In conclusion, I want to give my gratitude to the skateboarders. I don’t miss picking up litter at the Skateboard Park. There’s always litter to be picked up somewhere else.

—Tom Lacerte, Kalispell