Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote for Memphis Health and Fitness magazine. To read the whole thing please locate a copy of the December issue of Memphis Health and Fitness. It is a free publication that can be found in businesses all across the city.
World Class: The Opening of Tobey Skate Park
For years Memphis skateboarders had to search for a place to ride. While skate parks popped up in other mid-south cities (like Oxford and Little Rock), Memphis skaters watched and waited. Skaters took trips to other cities for the chance to ride public skate parks while backyard ramps, do it yourself spots and street skating around local businesses kept the scene alive for those who refused to give up...
...Finally, thanks to four years hard work by skateboarding advocate Aaron Shafer and others, Memphis skaters don’t have to wait any longer...
...Local skaters even helped design the park. Longtime Memphis skater and ramp design/construction aficionado Mike Lasiter helped Shafer redesign the “Shafe Run” after visiting the Venice, California public skate park. Lasiter and Shafer saw where improvements could be made, drew up plans, and made them happen...
...As a father with two children that skate, Shafer understand that skateboarding can be a great bonding activity. Skateboarding offers both a physical outlet and an opportunity for young people to set goals...
...In the words of elder “skatesman” Edward Pidgeon, “It is all about the tribe.” Unfortunately, what Memphis always lacked was a public location for the community, young and old, to come together. Now, the skateboarders finally have it. And as a skater who has traveled the country to skate different parks, I can say that it is a wonderful thing to finally have a park to call home.
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