Normally 500 skateboarding junior high and high schoolers locked in one room on New Year’s Eve, all hyped up on caffeine, is not a good thing. These workers don’t seem to mind though.

Dan Mitchell, 29, Joplin, opened The Bridge Youth Center on Sept. 8, 1999, for area church youth groups. During that time he was the youth minister for Christ Church of Oronogo. He has always loved the youth he works so hard to serve and surrounds himself with workers who share in his vision.

Logan Greer, 22, Joplin, volunteered at The Bridge for a year before he was hired.

“I work here for the kids, I love them, I really do,” Greer said. “A lot of them are going through some really hard stuff, and they don’t have anybody, but they have somebody here.”

The Bridge is best known for having one of the best skateboard and BMX bike parks in the area. But the center has something for everyone. It also offers pool and foosball tables, basketball hoops, a snack bar, a climbing wall, concerts and a big-screen TV for multiple person X-Box and Playstation tournaments. Center workers have also taken groups of youths to Kansas City to shop and Dallas to skateboard at eight different skate parks.

Since its inception, The Bridge has transformed itself into an all-ages area youth center.

“We don’t want to seem on the surface like a Christian youth center,” Mitchell said. “We just want to be a youth center that anyone would come to. Anyone can come here, they’re all accepted for who they are. It’s just a place to ride, to hang, climb, socialize and play X-Box and Playstation.”

The center opened “Impact,” a retail shop, November 2002. The non-profit store sells skateboards, inline skates and BMX bike parts, clothing and stickers. The store also functions as a full-service bike and skateboard repair shop.

“We don’t have to charge tax so it’s kind of nice to give the kids kind of a break,” said Steve Wasson, sophomore graphics and studio art major, who works in the store.

Wasson became involved with The Bridge because of his background in BMX bikes. He has worked in various area bike shops for the last 15 years and volunteered at several extreme sports camps.

“I love BMX and here I get to keep in contact with that and hang out with the kids,” Wasson said. “It’s kind of what I love to do.”

The center’s workers care enough about their young charges to enforce tough safety rules. Signs cover the walls insisting that skaters “Wear Helmets at All Times,” “Knee and Elbow Pads Recommended” and “No Food On Ramps.” Some of the youth dislike the rules, but the workers say it is for their own good.

“You never put the kids’ safety at risk just so they won’t yell at you, because you could be a part of ruining their entire lives,” Mitchell said. “So, you make them wear a helmet whether they want to or not.”

Other rules deal with smoking, drinking, profanity and public displays of affection. Greer thinks the youth understand the reasoning behind the rules.

“While they don’t like them [rules], I think they really do because it shows that somebody really cares about them,” he said.

The Bridge has specific nights designated for junior high students and other nights for high school and college students.

The next event is a punk concert featuring Nothing Left to Lose, Fraggin’ Monarchists, Flight 615 and Wide Awake at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The cost is $5.