Riverhead Skate Park Renamed for Late Skater

Town of Riverhead officials rededicated the skate park at Stozky Park last month in the name of Wesley Dean Ackley, a 27-year-old Baiting Hollow man who died in January following a battle with cancer.

Ackley was an avid and passionate skateboarder who graduated Riverhead High School in 2013, earned a bachelor’s degree from New York City College of Technology in human services and worked for Acacia Health Network in Brooklyn, according to his obituary. As a boy, he lobbied the town board not to raise fees in order to keep the skatepark accessible to kids. His well-written letter to the town convinced lawmakers to scrap the fee hike and drew praise.

“Wes loved skateboarding, he loved the difference he made in this world and he loved the Riverhead Skate Park,” Lisa Drozd and Jill Lewis wrote in a letter urging the rededication. “He was a strong advocate for the skate park and had a passion that never wavered.”

The rededication ceremony was held on the eve of what would have been his 28th birthday.