Hi, Im Eric Ford for Made Here.

Skatepark was the central pillarFor 17 years Talent of the Vermont skateboard scene.

After closing their doors in 2018, the community banded together inside the Burton factory in Burlington.to revive Talent as a non-profit, Director Kevin Michael Barry from Vergennes, Vermont skateboarding scene in his film Talent.captures the heart of the local you dont have to skate to enjoy this upbeat and engaging story!

You can watch Talent and other great Made Here films streaming on vermontpublic.org and through the PBS App.

Enjoy the film and thanks for watching.

Skating's like meditation.

You can just block out any negative thoughts you may have or channel them into skating and release that energy positive and feels goodin a way that becomes from your feet to your head.

There's nobody telling you what to do or how to do it.

You just seek out inspiration, usually, without even knowing it.

You try and interpret that.

(music) I started skating here in my driveway with my brother because he got a skateboard, and I just wanted to do whatever he was doing at the time, couple of my friends were,and then realized a like, on the same tip.

- Growing up, I was horrible at all the other sports, and I was the last dude picked.

Didn't have any friends because of it.

Skateboarding was exactly what I needed.

I just needed to get energy out.

skate whenever I wanted.I needed to be able to No rules, can't tell me what to do.

I just go.

- It was really the freedom.

I was always kind of a more independent kid, able to hop on a boardso I liked just being and ride and do, you know, just go wherever and do whatever.

thing wasn't really my thing.- You know, the team sports And then, on top of that, like, getting into music and getting into punk rock, it was a place of acceptance where I didn't need to be a certain kind of person to do it.

I could just do it and have my own rules.

I grew up in Jericho, Vermont, and next to my house, there was a schoolyard where everybody used to skate.

There was this one curb that everybody used to slappy.

- The older guys, their boards, the tail was completely wood grain sliding that whole thing.

'cause they were just It would just take off a layer of your board eventually.

But, that was the coolest thing.

When we started going to Burlington, the older guys were Oliver Reed, Kyle Burroughs, Greg Fox, huge influences on me.

I just got introduced to them through the B-Side video, see these guys in the park.watching at home and then "Oh, there's that guy."

"Oh," you know, "Oh, cool."

And then, a couple years later, shop as a little flow guy.I'd be riding for that - If you were downtown, you went to the B-Side, see where everybody was, what was going on that day, if there was any pros coming to town, and what spot everybody was skating at.

And, when we put the ramp in there, in that back room, it really became the spot where these kids that did great all summer, they were outside all summer.

They were loving the summer months, and then when the weather changed, and they couldn't get to the mountain, or it didn't even enter their head because it wasn't something that they could financially afford, there was always skateboarding.

So, when they had a place inside where they were welcome to come, as opposed to the parking garages where they were constantly being kicked out, it really became their spot.

- Vermont people quit skateboarding for four or five months outta the year.

They quit completely.

But, B-Side ramp really kept people skating, and that was huge.

And, it was the first blue ramp the signature baby blue.

Started right there man.

- I was working at Eastern Boarder in Massachusetts, and we built a full demo fleet of ramps, so we could, like, load ramps, like, in the back of a pickup truck and onto a snowmobile trailer and go to a town and put on a demo.

And, that kind of turned into, like, towns being like, "Hey, we want a skate park," like, "Do you know anyone who could build ramps?"

yeah, I could build ramps.

"And, I was like, "Well, ever built in BurlingtonAnd, the first thing I was a vert ramp for Burton.

that in, like, May of 1999.Then, I came up to build Hannah was the General Manager of the B-Side at the time, and we ended up at the same dinner, Tuesday night dinner party at Halvorson's.

- This man was there that I hadn't seen before.

the regular posse of my crew.He had come with a bunch of And, anyways, he went home to Massachusetts after the ramp was done, and we were writing, writing, writing and ended up becoming a couple.

And then, we decided, "Gosh, we really need to do something for these kids for the winter months once the weather goes bad.

Let's just look into building an indoor skateboard park."

- Burlington had a great skate scene, and there was sort of, "Oh man, Burlington needs an indoor skate park.

Burlington needs an indoor skate park."

After talking about it a little bit, like, someone's going to do it,we realized, "Well, if it should probably be us."

- So, right then, we started writing a business plan, and that was probably '99.

We saw a street sign that said, "For lease: 12,000 square feet."

We were like, "Let's go take a look."

It was perfect.

It was exactly what I had envisioned for an indoor skateboard park.

typical nineties design.- Kind of a just a It was very linear, just very back and forth.

You know, we always wanted to do something for everybody, so no matter what kind of a skater you were, there'd be something for you.

you know, ramps anywhereYou know, there was, from two and a half feet tall to nine feet tall.

And, there were rails, there were ledges, there was a bowl, there was a halfpipe.

Always wanted to represent all types of skateboarding.

- Excitement was building.

It was October.

We wanted to be open for Christmas.

That was our goal.

Around the clock, we were working, getting up, going to work, going home, passing out, eating, going.

of just trying to get it done.It was this constant stream And, I was like, "The wallpaper has to go."

It was dark green and red.

It was just dreary.

And, I stood on top of that ladder with my scraper in one hand, and I was ironing it with one hand so it would get nice and hot and then scraping it to peel it off.

And, of course, I lost my balance and fell to my left side of my head onto the cement floor, and I was knocked out.

Gone.

Brain injury does change your life.

Doesn't have to be for the worse.

Sometimes, it feels that way.

For me, I've learned so much people, about our bodies,about the world, about about empathy and compassion, more than I already knew.

For me, it's a blessing, I suppose.

I got out the end of November.

We opened December 21st I think.

Well, maybe December 21st, like, two in the morning,we stopped painting at, next morning at 10:00 AM.and then we opened the The ramps were all still wet.

Everybody just came in, and their wheels turned blue, and it was incredible.

It was awesome.

- I do remember being there on the first day Talent opened.

It was dusty, cloudy, it was amazing.

So many people showed up.

People that I looked up to were there, people that were young were there, and it was just massive scene that first day.

- Ever since I was 11 years old, that was the spot.

I would just be begging my mom to drive, you know, 45 minutes through the snow so I could skate.

And, all the ramps were painted blue, and it was just like heaven.

You walk in there, and it was warm, you could get snacks.

All the homies were always there.

- First time in there, it was kind of intimidating.

I don't think it was very long after they opened before I ended up getting a seasons pass there and just being, you know, a young hellion, being there, like, open to close every day.

- [David Wood] From the moment we opened it, the place was nuts.

It was packed.

People come from Rutland.

We had people come from St. Johnsbury, Plattsburgh, West Lebanon.

everybody all the time.You know, you'd see I could go to work, and that was, like, the place to be.

And, that was kind of cool.

- [Collin Hale] The thing about Talent that really expanded the community was the young guys.

Chris Colbourn was one of them.

He was so pale 'cause he was in Talent so much.

He was just inside all the time, and his progression was exponential.

- I was pretty nervous to go at first.

I remember it took me like six months to go after it opened 'cause I was just, like, I don't know, socially awkward at that point.

I still kind of am.

But, that place really, like, took me out of my shell once I finally did get in there just a whole indoor spaceand realized that it's figure life out like me,of people trying to sharing these little joys through skateboarding.

brother and I really got- [Collin Hale] So, my really close skating Talent together.

He would do fakie and I would do nollie.

So, it really looked like the same exact trick, But, for us, strengths and weaknesses,it played off different and we were able to really push each other and learn from each other.

- [Urian Hackney] Sean Stem, like, Conner Ose, the whole crew of people there were were just, like, really eclectic and different.

So, you know, I felt like I would fit in that don't fit in, you know?amongst a bunch of people - [Chris Colbourn] Like, Marshall Heath, Dave Abair, Sean Stem, Kyle Burroughs.

We just gained so much inspiration from them.

You don't need to be, like, a pro skater in, like, Barcelona.

inspiring, too, growing upThose big videos were but almost, like, out of reach.

I would prefer it at the time, like, Collin Hale's part in Peace of Time that Travis Card and Luke Sullivan made just like free styling around town, goofing off with his friends at spots I could recognize.

And, then Danny Hopkins came into my life and made a few videos of his own.

in, like, eighth grade.His first project was It was his eighth grade project.

It was called the PITA Project, which stands for pain in the ass.

Super funny.

But, that was like the first time anyone had ever filmed me.

around Maple Tree Place.We were, like, skating Sometimes, you're filming something, and, like, you know your own potential, but it takes having, like, a camera and a group of friends around to really push you to do that, which I'm incredibly grateful for 'cause I can now look back on plenty of instances ----less to do something,that I was scared but I was motivated and egged on by those friends to do it, and it worked out.

I learned a valuable lesson.Or, it didn't work out, and You're going to miss all the shots you don't take.

tried those scary things.I'm happy I at least It may have failed, may have succeeded, but it's better than not trying, that's for sure.

♪ Yeah, don't look back now ♪ ♪ They're in your town now ♪ ♪ Teen zombies ♪ ♪ Won't back down ♪ ♪ Yeah, don't look back now ♪ ♪ They're in your town now ♪ ♪ Teen zombies ♪ ♪ Won't back down ♪ - Harold Hunter came.

He skated for Zoo York, and he did a one-man demo 'cause nobody else from Zoo York showed up, and he had been working in a skate shop in New York City for years too.

And, he said, "You know, Hannah, you're going to love all your skate rats.

I can see that already, to lose some of them.

"but you're also going I was like, "Dude, Harold, what are you talking about?"

And, he was right.

He was right.

Sean Stem was, like, you know, he was like a son that I hadn't birthed.

He was always with me, but he got addicted to junk, and didn't matter that he was in and out of rehabs.

He just couldn't beat it.

And, he just lost.

He just lost.

But, he tried so hard, own paycheck at Talent.and he did earn his I wouldn't take back a single memory with him for anything in the world.

And, whenever his posse is here, I always play Take On Me by A-ha 'cause he would sing that song so loud and so offkey through the entire skate park when he was here.

It's Sean's song, so it's okay.

In 2008, things really hit a wall, and that was the financial collapse of us.

We hung on for another decade.

were doing worse every year,Even though our dollars we kept going 'cause we believed in it.

We were passionate about it, and probably afraid.

do if this place closes down,Like, "What are we going to and what's going to happen to this kid, this kid, this kid and this kid who rely on it so much," until the point where the landlord came and said, "Rent's going up $2 a square foot."

And, that was that.

- [Chris Colbourn] Got to skate it down to, like, the last piece.

And then, like, riding into the shop with, like, no walls, emotional to say the least.it was definitely Like, especially seeing, like, Hannah and Dave go through it after how much time and effort they had put in.

I was appreciative for how much it had done for me and, like, the whole community.

- I was there the first day they opened, I was there the last day they were open.

Man, like, so much has gone in that building.

I wouldn't be who I am without those hours of being on the ground and those bloody scabs and all that stuff.

But, just that hard work, dedication has really changed my life.

I mean, I've done things that I thought were impossible.

I thought it was impossible.

It makes you think about the world differently.

Things you think are impossible, you don't really know that.

completely done and empty,- When the place was I went home, and I crawled into my bed.

I think I stayed there for about a month.

So depressed.

I don't know, it was part of me had passed away.

Somewhere in that darkness, in the comfort of my bed, I received a phone call from one of my Talent families, and they said, "Hey, Hannah, we want you to come to a meeting."

bankrupt.

Like, I'm toast.

"And, I was like, "I'm we just wanna talk to you.

"They're like, "Just come, And, I said, "Okay, I'll come."

And, I walked in.

with a bunch of parentsIt was a long table of kids who benefited, blossomed through the love of that safe place.

And, they went around the room, and each told the story of their kid important to their family.and why Talent was so And then, at the end, they were like, "And, by the way, we want to reopen you as a nonprofit, and we'll be your board of directors.

You'll be the executive director, but we're going to help you.

Would you do it?"

"Yes."

I don't even know if I thought about it for a second, "Wait, I'm going to have a team to work with me?"

"Yes, let's do it."

- We were heartbroken for ourselves and really concerned thinking about what the skate communitythe skate community and was losing in losing Talent.

of me and my husband MikeBut then, another part right away started to think about, "This can't happen.

There has to be a next chapter because Talent has so much to offer the community."

- I don't actively skateboard anymore, but I just, I know growing up in that environment, those experiences are irreplaceable.

I felt it was important that if we had enough support, to try to put something back to help fill the void that was left when it closed.

- You know, as progress started to be made, and money started to be raised, it started to look like, "Oh, this might actually happen."

- We closed August 5th of 2018. had reestablished TalentBy November of 2018, we as a nonprofit, and we were recognized by the state at that time.

We started out doing that same driving around, looking for warehouse space, trying to find the perfect spot to reinvent Talent.

And then, I got a call from an employee at Burton Snowboards, and they were like, "We have a spot inside the building that we'd love you to come look at.

We think it'd be a great location for Talent to reopen in."

plan that worked for themAnd, we came up with a and for us as our landlords and decided to make it a go.

- The initial design was definitely more of a, kind of a dated design.

What skateparks were 20 years ago, and kind of this is more of a zone-based, where this is more of a feature-based, lot of traction with that.and I've been getting a And, I think most people are really gravitating towards this design.

and I think most people are really gravitating towards this design.

Kind of had a couple focus groups and of people who grew up skating Talent and were Talent regulars.

And, it seemed like, "Okay, well, Talent is these ramps, so let's take these.

These were our favorite things that Talent had.

Let's take and put them in this space."

I could always get it to, like, 60 or 70%, but there was always, like, this 30% that I just, "This doesn't work.

There's going to be this dead space, or there's going to be this cross traffic that's going to be super dangerous."

It just never felt right.

We skated around a little bit and just came up with kind of a different idea.

like, these big featuresRather than just being, that kind of take up a lot of space, just having a bunch of small features.

Almost like having, Brian Glenney put it, like, just taking a bunch of spots and putting them in a row.

And then, you can kind of use those spots however you want.

And, a lot of it was focused on, like, kind of the upcoming generation, but, like, what's going to be conducive to what Burlington needs right now?

Excitement was building,- [Hannah Deene Wood] we were going crazy, focusing on lessons skateboarding and community.and clinics and just So, construction kept going, and everybody was excited, and people kept coming out.

Cookie, Chris Colbourn, he was getting a pro model.

He wanted to do the release here at the skate park that he grew up in.

Different location, same feel.

still trying to process,- [Chris Colbourn] I'm you know, all those feelings that day.

Talent has been there since day one for me.

A lot of those people that came stayed open for so long.are the reason they Just means the world I got to talk with as many people as I did and hug it all those friends and T-shirts and stickers.and sign boards and grip For it to have my art on it means that much more too.

- The ramps weren't built all the way yet.

There was, instead of blue paint, there was sawdust everywhere and tools, and it was a mess, and it was perfect.

It was perfect.

And then, by January of 2020, we finally finished everything, and the plan was to open for Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a clinic.

And, we ran a clinic, and it was off the hook incredible.

It was incredible.

Then, February school vacation came around, and that was incredible.

And then, COVID hit.

It was a whole different type of different.

It was like a sci-fi movie.

Now what?

How do I not go out of business again when I just reopened, and I can't let people through the doors?

And, I sat here reworking my non retail-focused business into a highly, retail-focused business, so I could pay for things without admission to the park.

And, I spent my days driving to drop off a skateboard, a set of bearings, a set of pads.

Whatever it was, I drove around.

That's what I did.

I filled orders, and then drove to drop them off.

Or, people would come meet me, and I put it outside on the grass.

It was surreal.

The setting up and the buying of your first skateboard is a magical experience because it's an adventure, and you need to bring them in and experience it from the picking out of the board to standing on it to make sure your trucks are exactly perfect the way that you want them.

individualized process.

'Cause it's such an A kid that sets up their own skateboard values it in a different way than when they're just handed something.

- [Customer] Chet wants to be a skateboard designer when he gets older.

- [Hannah Deene Wood] Oh really?

If we have camp this summer, we do that.

A summer camp for a kid is where they make their best friends and where I saw kids make their posse that they would come Saturday mornings to the beginner session to see each other.

Especially since a lot of them didn't go to the same schools.

And then, when I opened here, I actually had my first camp where there was more girls than boys in attendance, and that was just a silent little victory, like, "Wow, we did it.

We got the girls to come out."

It's nice to see that growth.

I'll tell ya, skateboard camp is more than skateboarding.

It's finding your confidence.

It's stepping out of your comfort zone.

It's applauding somebody else's successes because you're happy for them.

It's picking up a friend who didn't get what they wanted to frustration feels like.and knowing what that It's everything.

- I like that you can do a lot of tricks.

You can even make up your own.

And, I think it's very fun.

On Monday, I could barely do any cool tricks.

and now, on Friday, I can drop in with no problem.

- I would say that's probably the most exciting part for me, quickly the kids advancegetting to see how and what they're learning with it.

It really goes beyond skateboarding when they get up after slamming and realize that it doesn't just happen.

It's not something that you can will into existence.

You just have to put in the work and then get to reap the reward.

Talent, specifically, is really important, not only because it's a local skate shop.

In this day and age, everyone orders stuff online.

The sense of community is really hard to find.

- Another good part about Talent is you get to design your own board.

Raccoons are sometimes called trash pandas.

So, I did a raccoon.

On the front, I have another raccoon.

about Cookie and Jordan.- [David Wood] Talk Marshall Heath and Dave Abair,You know, there's also you know, all kids that grew up in Burlington that we helped just giving them a place to skate 12 months out of the year.

kids that were super goodBut, there's also the that now, they're electricians, cooks, computer programmers, but they still rip skateboarding.

Like, I think that's super cool.

It's still a part of their life, it's still something that they do, and they're still really good at it.

Talent's 18 now, so it should be able to live on its own.

So, my hopes for it is that, you know, the people who grew up being a part of it and coming to skate it will either volunteer, or donate, or become employed here, and take it and run with it.

I think our long-term goal is to see it become its own thing and survive on its own with without us.

- [Hannah Deene Wood] My driving force is knowing on the daily operations,even if I am not here that Talent is carried on with the values that it started with: Caring, compassion, empathy, getting kids in here who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it.

Give them a board, get them some safety gear, and get them turned on to something that could change their life.

(punk rock music) ♪ I don't like this party ♪ ♪ I just wanna go home ♪ ♪ I'll try to look busy ♪ ♪ I'll just scroll on my phone ♪ ♪ Everyone is too heady ♪ ♪ I know I'm such a bore ♪ ♪ I got my jacket I'm ready ♪ ♪ I wanna run out the door ♪ (instrumental interlude) ♪ I don't like this party ♪ ♪ The clock is ticking too slow ♪ ♪ Who the --- is Molly ♪ ♪ How late will this go ♪ ♪ Everyone is so wasted ♪ ♪ I'll be in front of the stairs ♪ ♪ I'm rolling my eyes ♪ ♪ Like I don't even care ♪ ♪ These people are making me sick to my stomach ♪ ♪ I don't know how much more I can take ♪ ♪ I don't know, I gotta get outta here, man ♪ ♪ If we don't leave soon ♪ ♪ I'm gonna freak out ♪ (instrumental interlude) ♪ You get to say what you wanna say ♪ ♪ You get to do what you wanna do ♪ ♪ You can get away with anything ♪ ♪ It must nice to be you ♪ ♪ They all smile when you're in the room ♪ ♪ They throw all the money at you ♪ ♪ It's so easy, you're a simple guy ♪ ♪ It's so easy you don't have to try ♪ ♪ Most people think you're really cool ♪ ♪ But you act like a total tool ♪ ♪ You can get away with anything ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ (electric guitar solo) ♪ You get to say what you wanna say ♪ ♪ You get to do what you wanna do ♪ ♪ You can get away with anything ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ They all smile when you're in the room ♪ ♪ They throw all the money at you ♪ ♪ It's so easy, you're a simple guy ♪ ♪ It so easy you don't have to try ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ ♪ It must be nice to be you ♪ Vermont Public, partnering with local film makers to bring you stories made here.

For more, visit vermontpublic.org.