A teenager’s dream, a wife’s reminder, a public promise made in emotion, determination, volunteers, sponsors, a loaves and fishes moment, and some 200 people to witness the dream come true – “God brought it together,” Bob Richardson said Saturday in Blue Ridge.
Richardson is the former pastor of Blue Ridge First Baptist Church. He was speaking to the crowd gathered for the dedication of Syd’s Place, Highland Outdoor Ministry’s skate park on East First Street.
Richardson came to town for the event that started with Sydnie Jones’ words during a college Bible study at the church, a study she attended every week until “God took her home,” Richardson said.
Sydnie, only 19 at the time, lost her life after a car crash in January 2021. But that is not where the story begins and is even farther from where it will end.
Richardson traced the steps and looked to the future Saturday.
His son was moving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. “Like any good dad,” he told how he was looking for ministries in the area and came across a skate park ministry. Richardson felt this would be a perfect place for his son who arrived with “a skateboard under his arm” when the family moved to Blue Ridge.
Richardson was telling this story at the college Bible study. As soon as Sydnie heard it, she said, “We gotta have one,” not relenting until Richardson promised to research the idea.
Every week she would ask the pastor, “Have you called them.”
Then came the Tuesday night she wasn’t at the Bible study – the Tuesday night of the car crash.
Not long afterward, Richardson was reminded by his wife, “You made a promise to her you didn’t follow through with.” She was speaking of the skate park.
Richardson told Saturday of mentioning the idea to a few folks and beginning to believe a park could be built, but the idea was not yet ready to be shared publicly.
Then came the dedication of the intersection where the crash occurred to Sydnie’s memory. Richardson said it was in the emotion of the moment he announced a skate park would be build in Sydnie’s memory.
That announcement came less than two years ago in September 2021. It became reality Saturday, with Austin Leach describing a last minute “loaves and fishes” moment when God came through.
Friday morning, barely more than 24 hours before the dedication event was set to begin, the park did not have restrooms and the water had not been turned on. But those problems were fixed.
And with that, Syd’s Place was dedicated Saturday, a day Richardson called, “the first day of many that will touch future generations...We thank God for this moment.”
He remembered how Sydnie said, “Let’s use skating for Jesus.”
That is the foundation of the park.
Leach, the director of Highland Park Ministry, said, “The reason we exist is for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what every Christian is called to. I think Sydnie understood that.
“We’re excited for what God will do in the future,” Leach said.