us to
Dodge Skatepark for the late afternoon ses-
sion. I have been to many public facilities, but
this is was my favorite.
When Patrick O'Dell Designed by Frank Hawk and
(above) moved in, the built by the city of Columbus, it
ramp was already is a dream come true. Poured
there so naturally, he using a composite fiber
rips it. Rockin' to fakie glass/concrete mixture, it has
in the basement of the bowls ranging from three, four
family mansion. "Yes, and six feet deep with very
we have ne bananas," grindable lips and launchable
says Denny Humes hips. We skated with the locals
(bottom) while answer till the sun fell. After a skate
ing the phone at on the campus of Ohio State,
the park. we called it a night and count-
ed sheep at Hume's ped. I had
a dream where I had to take a piss and in the
maming, you guessed it, I pissed my pants, so
I'm in the dog house for sure and I knew it
would be a long trip.
The day's death mission is Dayton, which is
Coca-Col
home to the Alien
Workshop crew.
Situated about
ninety minutes
from Columbus,
the Workshop
hangar is adjacent
to a small, dark
park called the
Visitor Center.
We hooked up
With John Drake,
Scott Conklin,
Chris Carter, Mike
Hill and Rob
Dyrdek,
end skated up a storm in the musty old build-
ing. It is rumored Neil Blender lives in Dayton
and works for a pharmaceuticals company. I
didn't see him, but heard he skates the park
every once in a while. It rained most of the
time, but we were skating, so it's cool.
Friday was the big photo day at Sunsports.
BK took photos of the locals while I concen
trated on early grabs to tail. Humes just wor
ried. The contest at Dodge was scheduled for
Saturday and it is reining mercy buckets. I tell
him not to worry, we have plenty of Cakes and
beers, so chill the melon, Helen. That night
there was a party in our honor where the kegs
were flowing and the bands were rocking.
Freaks came and went to the crazy sounds of
Pica Huss and the bad boys of Columbus. The
Flap Jacks. The beer was drunk ceremoniously
and bizarre dances and chants were performed
in hopes of sunshine for Saturday
Saturday morning dawned hat, humid and
dry. Humes was pacing around like a maniac.
So I guessed it would happen after all, and it
did (see side-bar]. After the contest, there
were tons of skaters all going about their busi
ness until, you guessed it, rain. The only place
to go was indoor and in Ohio that meant park
ing garages. Unlike most cities, the cops here
don't care about skating. We even skated a
handrail in front of the cop shop. An eleven
story garage was invaded as we all threw down
on the slopes and curbs. Off the beaten path,
downtown Columbus is great for skating
Stairs, blocks and handrails are plentiful and
the streets are smooth. The world is muggy
and sweaty but I don't care as long as I'm
flushing out toxic sweat in buckets.
Sunday was raining as usual, but by
dusk it had cleared up enough for us to go
back downtown. Rob Dyrdek came out
from Dayton, and he is bad as fuck. This
little guy threw down hellacious stunts
while we watched in amazement. We hit
the hay early that night and got ready to
leave in the morning.
I now turn over the story to one guy
that has lived here all his life and knows
the Ohio scene like no other, Mr. Donny
Humes.
BUCKEYE VIEW
The Ohio skate scene is centralized
around Columbus because it is roughly
in the middle of the state. It has two
parks and loads of hot skaters: Rob
Case, Tony Montell, Chad Knight, the
Bailey brothers, Aaron McClendon,
Chris Rapp. Pat O'Dell, Chris
Strausbaugh and plenty of spots:
Grove City banks, Wexner Center on
OSU campus and Patrick's mini
Northern Ohio, which includes
Cleveland, Akron and Canton has its
share of spots and skaters as well.
Inpit Park, BP handrails, Hutton's and PT's vert
ramp are all rippable. These dudes are the bad
boys. Heavily influenced by the Sacto scene
they all have chain wallets. Cons and Levi's..
They worship the almighty Duane and Rick
Winsor. Look out for Jim Hill, Lurch, Jon
Witmer Jules, Dave Berry, Brett Turner and
Chris Krause, because when they roll, there is
hell to pay.
While in Cincinnati, you can check out the
Doctor's Office Bank (birthplace of the
Boneless one), Riverfront stadium and Proctor
and Gamble. You may or may not run into Ned
Keller, Sean Brown, Josh Anderson, lan
Toombs, Chris Potser and Tony Heights,
Down south, there is Portsmouth and
Marietta, and Snake's Skateshop. Snake will
clue you in on local spots like Falcon, and by
Portsmouth. Skaters who rip: Adam Shields.
the time you read this, a skatepark in
Jesse Feuble and Matt Miner
Dayton is the home of skate celebs: Mark
Heintzman, Paul Stanley, Shane Patterson,
Tom Ramey and legends such as GSD
Roskopp and Jinx all lived here at one time, so
that will tell you what up. The skatedogs all
check Colonel White, Kettering Rec Center and
Hill's curb. That covers some but not all of the
names and places to look for
In summary, it goes like this: Lots of old
boerds, slashers, no helmet law, bers till 2:30
am, bad tattoos, baby strollers, fishermen..
cament, chiropractors, long hair and beautiful
sunsets. Bring plenty of t-shirts, because you
are going to sweat like a pig. So get off your
fat ass and go out to Dodge. Skate the park.
you won't be disappointed. If you live near there
save me some for the next time I come
through town. Bye.
Dodge Skatepark sits in a field
between Town and Rich streets in
Columbus, Ohio. Located on city prop-
erty, it was opened to the public in
October 1990 and membership soon
grew to over 680. For a ten dollar mem-
bership fee and full safety gear, you
can rip and tear with the locals. It cost
about $100,000.00 to build, and judging
by the response, it was well worth it.
Many contests have gone down there
in the years that it has been open and I
happened to see one on June 6, 1992.
Morning dawned semi-hazy, but the
ground was dry, so that meant the con-
test was going to happen. After the
park was swept and the area was set-
up to spectate, the skaters went to
work. Bar-be-ques were lit, sodas were
iced and the contest was underway.
Hot Dogs (beginners) were first to go.
The mini-hewns had some tricks, but
they concentrated on just staying on.
SHOWDOWN
AT DODGE
The Potato Salad (intermediate) group
had the lines, but had long and frustrat-
8. Mike Newton
9. Shane Hammond
ing runs. The loed Teas (advanced) ICED TEAS
tore it up. These guys had all done their
1. Dave Nye
homework and hammered the pedal to
2. Chris Rapp
the floor. Stand-outs included Aaron
3. Aaron Cox
Cox who rode backwards, Chris Rapp's
4. Aric Sanders
fat frontside airs in the deep pool, and
5. Paul Stanley
Dave Nye who did chink chinks
The results read like this:
HOT DOGS
1. Eric Housand
2. John O'Reily
3. John Hammond
4. Chad Williams
POTATO SALADS
1. Bily Withers
2. Kirk Fultz
3. John Iddings
4.Josh Addy
5. Patrick O'Del
6. Shawn Blaker
7. Dave Courtney
6. Shane Patterson
7. Karl Ludwig
8. Will Stanforth
9. Dan Harrigan
By three p.m., the food and drinks
had all been gobbled in a mid Ameri-
cana frenzy. The clouds looked
threatening and rain was on the way.
Skaters from all over the state came
and it was a fun event. Thanks go
out to Park Manager Donny Humes,
Center Director Brenda White and
Director Maureen Lorenz who all
worked hard to pull it off.
-Guluth Silain
Out of the bowls and onto the apron, John Iddings (top) floats a fatty. Dodge Skatepark (middle) overview, with
Columbus skyline in background. Dyrdek (sequence) still sliding...