Montevallo county officials have caught wind of the changing times.

Last week, the Montevallo Parks and Recreation Board suggested that the city council explore the idea of building a skate park.

This makes Montevallo the third city in Shelby County to consider the idea, with Alabaster&8217;s Veterans Skate Park open since this summer and Columbiana&8217;s fundraising still in the works.

Fundraising for any project, whether it is a skate park or nature trail, is always where many projects get hung up.

This is where members of the community must step in. Kids are not going to stop skateboarding any time, soon, so there might as well be a safe, well-lighted, supervised place for kids to skate.

Sure the long hair and baggy pants many wear may not be what older citizens like to see, but its 2006 and communities must grow and change right along with their citizens.

Youth of today have different needs and interests than youth of yesterday.

Kids wouldn&8217;t want to skate on the sidewalk and slide down church guardrails if there was a place where skating was allowed. For many individuals, the baggy pants, long hair and skate parks will be traded for a football, a computer, high school diplomas and college degrees later on down the road.

So good for Montevallo, Columbiana and Alabaster. By reaching out a hand to kids in your community now, there&8217;s a better chance the youth will hold on tighter, stay closer to home and give back later on in life.

As for skaters, continue raising funds and be bold in asking member of your community for support.

There are enormous lessons to be learned about local government, proposals and persuasive speaking in your campaign.