Brendan Leddy Memorial Fund Project Calais Skatepark Committee

The Street Beat 4-7-21 audio

extended  video version

 

 

Brendan Leddy Memorial Fund Project

Read this from the Calais Skatepark Committee

The Calais Skatepark Committee has created a scholarship fund to memorialize
Brendan Leddy, one of our charter CSC members who took his own life recently.
Brendan played an integral role in the original design and construction of the
Calais Skatepark and went on to become a premier skateboarder who was
sponsored by skateboarding companies, scored highly in national competitions,
and was featured in many videos.
Brendan served in the U.S. Air Force and was deployed overseas in several
countries. He is survived by his parents.
The idea to establish a skatepark in Calais was initiated by Justin Colpitts, a
student in my Technology Education classes at the Calais High School in 1999.
The energy grew as we established the Calais Skatepark Committee and began
our fundraising campaign while pushing our message out through the community.
We have continued to work on the Calais Skatepark since the asphalt was laid in
2001. While the skatepark has experienced issues with its public image and a
downswing of activity over the years, there has been a revitalization of energy
over the past year or two. I have a great deal of pride for the efforts of the CSC
membership over the years, and I am particularly proud of my son, Spencer, now
28 years of age, who has stepped up into a leadership role for the CSC. He was
about 8 years of age when we began this project and he is now one of the current
CSC leaders who has arranged skate comps and, together, we have made
presentations to area communities who are beginning their design process. This
fact makes me ever so proud and pleased about the legacy of this project begin
carried forward by my son and those original CSC student members who are
working with us now on our current initiatives.
When I muse about the passing of Brendan, I have thought of one ‘positive.’ That
is, that Brendan found a way to ‘bring the band back together.’ In retrospect,
when I reflect back on the original CSC, I fill with emotion. To be able to
reconnect with many of the original CSC is so very heartening to me.We had a
very special connection and relationship together. “Back in the day,” when we held a CSC meeting, we would have 15-25 students or
more in attendance. We, the CSC, did our own CAD drawings for the ramp and
park designs; created a scale model of the park; built the majority of the ramps;
installed benches; built a ‘skatebuilding;’ wrote grant applications; raised in
excess of $100,000; established our CSC ‘brand’ with T-shirts, hats and hoodies
that we silk-screened ourselves; made public presentations to community
organizations; created a spreadsheet of all local businesses and mailed out our
info docs and requests for support; hosted pizza suppers; performed skate demos
in local business parking lots; spoke on the local radio; participated in parades;
held yearly competitions, including a Grand Opening; hosted a dedication
ceremony to honor the memory of one of the City Councilors who showed
particular support; hosted a “Skate Against Drugs Event” with bands and
community service organizations present to share their info; honored the MANY
individuals and businesses who provided support with a variety of thank you
methods; created a huge Haunted House in the local WalMart; and now have
more initiatives underway.
The heart of the CSC is now back together to create this scholarship to
memorialize Brendan. These former students of mine are in their early 30’s now
and are taking their own children to the park that they played a role in
developing. In fact, Justin Colpitt’s daughter is: an avid skateboarder; a junior in
high school; and is now a member of the current iteration of the CSC. I have
difficulty expressing my feelings of personal pride that I was able to play a role
that helped my students create such a community project. I may becoming more
emotional as I age, but I admit that I get rather choked up when I think back to
those days and the amount of energy that the students fed upon from each other,
from me, and me from them. We had a special crew with a special bond that I
can say that I didn’t fully appreciate while in the moment. In one of our recent
Zoom meetings, one of our charter members was heard to say that the skatepark
‘saved his life’ in that it gave him some direction and feeling of belonging.
Some of this special crew lives on now and is putting their adult heads together to
not only memorialize Brendan, but to look ahead to improvements at the park.
The credit goes to these talented and web/tech savvy CSC members who have
created the entire scholarship package to be accessed and submitted online. Facebook, Instagram, QR codes, PayPal, etc. Way cool, and way professional. Be
sure to check out the links on the Calais Skatepark Facebook page.
We have designated 10% of the funds raised for the scholarship to be donated to
local suicide prevention and veteran’s efforts. We are planning a “Skate-for-Life”
event at the Calais Skatepark for sometime this summer, perhaps during the
International Festival as we have done so many years past. We will, again, as we
did for the Skate Against Drugs event, have local service organizations available to
share their information about suicide prevention and healthy behaviors. We will
also pay tribute to another CSC charter member who passed way from an
overdose as well. While this young man did not go on to become any kind of
notable skater, his heartbroken family shares that the skatepark project meant a
lot to him and gave him an outlet, as it has done for many others over the years.
We also plan some sort of “Fallen Soldier’ tribute to be installed at the park to
memorialize those CSC members that we have lost.
This has been therapeutic for me to put my thoughts in writing. Feel free to use
excerpts or nothing. I am not ashamed of my thoughts and feelings. I am grateful
to have had the opportunity to become a teacher and to work with the local
youth to create such a long-standing community project. Teachers always hope
that they have a positive effect on their students, while knowing that it is unlikely
that their efforts will ever be acknowledged by the students.

This CSC project is a testament to my good fortune. I feel so fortunate. I just feel
so fortunate.

Respectfully, Randy McCormick