ANNAPOLIS, Md. — When tragedy struck an Annapolis family, they knew the best way to honor their loved one was to help the skateboarding community he loved so much.
And they did that through celebration, remembrance and by refurbishing the skatepark he loved so much into a memorial that his fellow skateboarders could use, even though Tameron Barish is no longer here to enjoy it in-person.
Watch as the Annapolis community gathers at this new and improved skatepark
"I know Tameron's looking down on this, and he's so jealous that he can't physically be here with us to skate," said Keegan Barish, Tameron's sister. "This is amazing. This is four years in the making of just so much hard work working with the city, and it's finally come to fruition."
Tameron was a junior at FGCU when he tragically passed in 2021 — but instead of flowers or cards, his family thought the best way to carry on his memory was to update Truckston Skate Park which is now renamed Overflow in honor of the business Tameron started, but never had the chance to see soar.
"Tameron would have just died over here because this is like his dream," said Tameron's mother Dana Haines. "He loved his skatepark. He would have loved to have seen it remodeled, and he would have loved the amount of people — we've never seen a turnout like this ever at this park, so it is just amazing."
His family and friends say, the day, the new skatepark and the turnout have all been a fitting tribute to Tameron.
"I would describe Tamaron as like quirky fun loving, got along with everyone," Keegan said. "I definitely see all the aspects of Tamer here and the crowd and the environment, all the people here, they're so happy. They're so excited. I could totally see him just like fitting in right with this crowd. I mean they're so excited to finally have a nice working, amazing skate park, and this is such a big win for Annapolis."
This family, taking their loss to create something beautiful for Annapolis and the skating community Tameron loved so much.
"You walk around the crowd, everyone is enjoying the demos and skating and playing around and laughing," Haines said. "It's just a great family event, so it's just making my heart so happy to see that something good has come out of something very sad."
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