| Wells Fargo gives $5,000 to skate park Published in the July 27, 2005 issue of The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle Wells Fargo Bank has donated $5,000 to the B3 Skatepark Project. The donation brings the total raised to $261,000 for the planning, engineering and construction of the 14,000-square-foot concrete skate park and dirt BMX track. Construction is scheduled for next spring. Tonasket council members decided June 14 to move the complex back to Chief Tonasket Park from a previously approved location in History Park. B3 co-chairwoman Georgine Epley said Mark Dederer, Wells Fargo vice president for community relations, and Helen Casey, Tonasket branch manager, handed over the check in June. Epley and her son and co-chair, Jesse, accepted the donation on behalf of B3. B3 proponents submitted an application to the Wells Fargo community grant program in April 2004 but were turned down because their construction plans didn't fall within funding criteria of the bank, said Georgine Epley. But Dederer kept in contact and offered encouragement. "It was heartbreaking to lose a grant we thought we were a sho0-in for, but Mark was so interested in our project and thoughtful, it was hard to mad about it," said Georgine Epley. "He went above and beyond the ordinary to lessen the disappointment and that made the rejection easier to handle." Then, in May 2005, Dederer contacted her and asked for a meeting. The meeting was postponed until June, after Jesse Epley's finals at Central Washington University. The younger Epley was 13 when he wrote the first letter to the mayor of Tonasket requesting a skate park be built. Dederer told them he'd taken their application to a variety of other groups seeking grants as an example of a well-written and well-presented request. "He said it was a constant reminder to him that he was unable to fund the very application he was using as an example, and after nearly a year he wanted to rectify that situation," said Georgine Epley. "It was incredible to have such kind words and such a large donation of funds." |
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2005 The Chronicle, Inc., Omak, WA 98841, unless otherwise noted. |
