An opening celebration for the newly renovated skate park was held Saturday. The renovations were made possible by a grant from MVYouth.

Three organizations that serve hundreds of Island youth have received grants totaling $511,000 from MVYouth, a community fund begun two years ago.

A project is in the works to refurbish the Vineyard skate park, which was built in 2003 and now needs repairs. Organizers need to raise $300,000.

What do skateboards, oysters and champagne have in common? That would be Art in the Park, a benefit for the Martha’s Vineyard Skatepark taking place this Sunday, August 18, from noon to 3 p.m. at Atria on Main street in Edgartown.

On Saturday, June 1, the Martha’s Vineyard Skate Park Association (MVSPA) will host a fundraiser at the Flatbread Company to raise money for improvements to the skate park. The event will feature live music by Ben Taylor, DCLA, 2nd Power and DJ Ricky Prime.

At age six, Elliot Vecchia witnessed his first skateboard trick as a kid on Circuit avenue kick flipped his way down the avenue.

“I was obsessed with skateboarding ever since,” Mr. Vecchia said, remembering how for years he begged his parents for a skateboard.

Island guy Elliott Vecchia’s new movie Natural Selection is a skateboarding film shot around Boston and Lowell. In a trailer for the movie, a cast of skateboarders do what they do best. They fly on their boards over stairs, railings, grassy hills, buildings, clouds; it is as if nothing is beyond the reach of their wheels. They do this not in a sound studio or generated on a computer screen. There is no high tech, no instruction manual or team, no coach and most of all no boundaries. It is the ethos of skating. Use what the urbanized world gives you and make it your plaything.

Oak Bluffs will allow the skate park on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road to remain open, despite a recent call from the town insurance carrier to shut it down because of safety concerns.

Town administrator Michael Dutton this week said highway superintendent Richard Combra, town police and superintendent of schools Dr. James H. Weiss met recently with Elaine Barse, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Skate Park Association, to discuss the issues at the park.

Keep the Skate Park Open

The recommendation from an Oak Bluffs town insurance inspector on the skate park came out of the blue last week, catching everyone by surprise, including the nonprofit organization that operates the park across the road from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Citing equipment safety hazards and liability concerns, the insurance inspector has recommended that the park be closed.

Calling it a danger to those who skateboard there, an insurance inspector for the town of Oak Bluffs has called for the town skate park on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven road to be closed immediately.

Paul Chipman, senior risk control consultant for the town’s insurance carrier Trident Insurance, sent a letter to town administrator Michael Dutton on March 19 laying out his concerns about hazardous conditions at the park, while recommending it be closed immediately.