Tree of life
Sports park organization donates California native sycamore to downtown Sonora’s Courthouse Square
An organization dedicated to the foundation and construction of a new action sports park in Sonora donated a tree to the county-managed Courthouse Square in downtown Sonora on Saturday as an “opening ceremony” to their fundraising events over the next year.
“We decided to just do something special to start off with,” said Justin Flynn, president of the Sonora Action Sports Park organization. “I feel fantastic about everything, I couldn’t have asked for the event to go any better than it did.
“We got all the kids on board, they’re all aware of what we’re doing together. They’re as excited as can be. We’re making huge progress in a short amount of time.”
The tree was a 22-foot California native sycamore, donated by Solomon’s Gardens Nursery and Landscaping, which is now visible from Washington Street.
For Flynn, the tree was representative of the new life the sports park would bring to the community.
“When you drive past this tree and you’re going through town and you look over, remember this day and remember that we all planted this tree together,” Flynn said during a speech at the event. “We are here to grow strong and unite as a community and give our children a safe place to be and all do our outdoor recreation together.”
Sonora Action Sports Park is intended to be a multisport, family friendly com
munity gathering spot meant to promote healthy lifestyles for youth.
Flynn estimated around 75 or more people at the event on Saturday, which preceded and was not affiliated with a medical freedom rally which followed later in the day.
The event was geared toward children as a way to involve them as athletic investors in the future of the project, Flynn said.
“It really got to capture them in and make them feel like a part of the movement here,” he said. “It went amazing, we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”
The new site is intended to be an amalgamation of multiple action sport tracks and parks for a variety of proficiency levels. Flynn’s conceived project is not a refurbishing of the Sonora Skate Park on Greenley Road, which is managed by the county.
Instead, they plan to locate a new 3- to 5-acre property within the downtown region.
There would be a central skate park with advanced and beginner sections divided by seating. To the north would be a mountain bike course and to the south would be a grass area, dog park and a small track for electric race cars. To the west would be a BMX jump track and pump track (a circuit set with hills and turns ridden by Bmxers who “pump” instead of pedal).
To the east would be a parking lot, a bike/skate repair station and store, and bathroom facilities.
The proposed sports park has been promoted as a public good to reduce youth substance abuse and revitalize the local economy.
They hope to have it open in about two years, Flynn previously told The Union Democrat.
“We are just waiting for the perfect place,” he said. “It’s such a big mission we’re taking on and it’s going to be such a wonderful park. We want to find the perfect spot before we start building.”
Sonora Action Sports Park is umbrellaed by Sierra Nonprofit Services in Sonora, which accepts donations on behalf of the group.
Flynn described the “substantial progress” over the summer, with multiple people on an executive team and verbal buy-ins by local businesses and families.
Prior to the event on Saturday, the group set up a caution area at Courthouse Square around the excavation location for planting the tree. The group dug the hole with a backhoe and removed the remains of a stump before the arrival of the tree from Solomon’s Gardens.
There was a speech before the tree was placed in the ground, and attendees assisted with filling the hole with dirt and water, “all together a community,” Flynn said.
Flynn said they raised between $500 to $1,000, which will be used to fund an upcoming skate competition and sponsoring local BMX riders at events in Angels Camp and in the Central Valley.