Farmington skateboarders look to return to the Dragon’s Nest

The Mt. Blue Area Skate Community plans to return to the Dragon’s Nest Skateboard Park in Farmington after the snow is gone this winter. The after-school activity was started last year by Eli Davis of Wilton and Tyler Brown of Farmington and drew more than a dozen participants, some of whom stand with their skateboards. Alex Hupp photo

FARMINGTON — When the snow is gone for the season, skateboarders will be back at the town’s Dragon’s Nest Skate Park on Prescott Street.

Organizers of the after-school Mt. Blue Area Skate Community, Eli Davis of Wilton and Tyler Brown of Farmington, hope to continue to draw kids to the sport and offer support for all skill levels.

Davis, an award-winning skateboarder, and Brown, a Mt. Blue High School teacher, started the club last year. It is not sanctioned by Regional School Unit 9.

They started with two or three students skating at the Dragon’s Nest and by the end of the season, more than a dozen were involved.

The club has continued practicing through the winter at the Anti-Gravity & Recreation Center in Carrabassett Valley. Money raised by a GoFundMe page has paid for passes to the center and equipment, Davis said. The group also received a generous donation from Cousineau Wood Products in Anson for skateboard decks.

Davis was one of two men who resurrected the Dragon’s Nest in 2020. It opened in 1991 as the first public skateboard park in Maine but was covered over with dirt. He and Seth Noonkester of Farmington started hand-digging the dirt from one of three buried bowls considered a vertical feature in skateboarding.

They soon received permission from Matthew Foster, director of Farmington Parks & Recreation, to use heavy equipment to speed up the process and paid for it themselves. Foster also wanted to reopen the park.

Rebuilding the park is also in the works with skate park designer Tito Porrata of the Platform Group.

Brown is involved because as a teacher he is looking for ways to help kids with their mental, physical and social well-being, he said.

There are a lot of new skaters and when you bring them all together with varying levels of skill and experience, it helps to keep them coming back and learning, Brown said.

“It doesn’t matter if you are doing an ollie” — jumping into the air with the skateboard without using hands — for the first time, or you are doing a really complicated trick, you are going to receive as much applause from the group as the next person, Davis said.

One of his goals for the after-school skate is giving kids another option to try the sport, he said, and pursue it further.

“For me, skateboarding has brought me to cool places, and I have met really cool people,” he said, adding he has gained many friends through the sport.

One of their collective goals this year is to grow as a group and get more established, Davis said.

Another goal is getting more kids interested in skateboarding and get them the necessary equipment, if they don’t have it, Brown said.

That could include axles, wheels and other parts for the board. A pair of trucks costs $35, a set of wheels costs $25, and a set of bearings cost $20, Brown said.

“I like to see kids outside,” Davis said.

They both applaud parents supporting the riders for the sessions.

Those interested in participating in the club can go to Mt. Blue Area Skate Community on Facebook. Brown can be reached at Tbrown@mtbluersd.org and Davis at Elijdavis@gmail.com.