Fresno Thrash
MANIA
Twin lead singing brothers front the
skate band, at Fresno Night
(insey.
FRESNO
THRASH
FURLOUGH IN FRESNO
As I am suddenly awakened by
someone slapping my face, my fists"
clench in reliek action, not realizing it's
Senseless forover my mind from the
previous evening's intake "Captain Shaos
is outsiarowindstes packs and
other ble paraphernal in the
Ramble Classic check the clock, it
reads 08 AM out the oor we go.
My mind is flashing thru a recording
from two days befors T-Ed was telling
us about a steel 16de half pipe, no
other no except it here and ready to be
redded My eyes focus on a spark as
ptain Chaossghing something and
selss questions us-About how far?
many miles Fean only give a logical
Hiway to LA "from here.
we sve in Fresnio we pull over to a
wcramble thru the phone book
Somore info to add to our one clue.
's Santeshop After the third degree
errogation of Bernie, we got directions
To the hall pe and possibly some pools.
We located lew but due to circumstances.
we only sked The Hoakes Hole,
nhabited by the previous mentioned gen
der
Arriving at the exact location of the half-
pipe, we realized the stricture was our
main and final objective access was no
problem, due to direct inquisition, we were
skating in 3 minutes.
Fresno's own contingency of skaters.
arrived to show us their lines and how
heavily they blazed, locals Bryan and
Tony were way hot, with band members
of Capitol Punishment and Veterans of
Disorder skating and playing host.
That evening we were lucky to be able
to go thru a special skate ceremony
against some locals whose names shall
not degrade THRASHER. We depart with
Chuck telling us the words that will protect
us against all skate kooks everywhere,
ashing Freshu right at the Mabuhay Gardens, SF
SHOOMBALA CHINGOLA
-Fish
BERNIE'S
SKATEBOARD
SHOP
ROLLER SKATE
RENTALS
Chris "Captain Chaos" Cook, hang 'n roll.
Local, Tony', hovers a handplant over Fresno farmland.
In the San Joaquin Valley, California,
there is a very "Hot" town called Fresno.
Skateboarding has been thriving there
since 1976. Eric Tsuta, Bryan Muñoz and
a few others were the first pool finders
and subsequent shredsters back then. I
was not residing in Fresno at the time, not
until around June of 1978 when the
Fresno Mogul Bowl Skatepark opened its
gates. I was riding my skateboard around
my new school when some kid about my
age stopped me and said there was a
skatepark being built. I went to check it
out and met Eric and Bryan, they were
way hot! Both just as good as the Pros,
but were never around the Southern Cal
Pro Circuit to get in that action-or maybe
they just didn't want to.
We skated the park every day for at
least 5 hours a day, sometimes when we
got tired of the park we would skate some
pools or someone's half-pipe. The Mogul
Bowl's steel full-pipe was the best, 20
wide x 20' in diameter, flawless and it
emptied into a mellow bowl. I recall the
time that Skateboard Mania came through
with their show, I don't know how they
liked the park, but I do remember Duane
Peters and Tim Marting ripping it up.
Came December of 1979 and the park
closed. Fresno lost more than half of its
skate population. Of course the owners
didn't give a damn. All in all we didn't lose
everything, we still had backyard pools,
half-pipes, curbs, downhills and parking
lots to shred. One day a couple of friends
went to skate the remains of the Mogul
Bowl, and they noticed that the metal full-
pipe had been cut in half and was sitting
on a 40' trailer. They inquired of the driver
as to where the "pipe" was headed. "To
my backyard," he said, "for my son. He
used to skate here." He also invited us to
come over any time and skate. Since then
the new owner, Leroy, has spent a lot of
time and effort setting up the pipe. He
built a deck around the top with stairs
leading up to it, plus he landscaped
around the pipe. It features all the
comforts of a skatepark, there is nothing
more that we could ask for.
We all respect Leroy and what he has
done for skating here in Fresno, and
when he needs a hand, we're always
there to help.
Chuck Gillette
Fresno, CA
33