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Getting ready to travel to Virginia for a series of demos with the Pro Impact Stunt Team, I found myself wondering what to bring to a place where I spent the large part of my youth. I grew up in Virginia, Richmond that is, and was going "home" to perform at X-Day 2, an event put on in the town of Warrenton. Both Sarah and I made it to the airport, boarded the plane and headed nonstop to Baltimore, Maryland. Arriving around 10 PM, I thought we might be late to meet the other guys (Jeff Ferris, Joe Tecca, Jason Richard, Bob Kohl and Billy Gawrych), but upon arrival at the hotel at 11:30 PM, I found that we were the first to arrive. Messages on my cell phone indicated that everyone else would be arriving later, so we would all meet up the next day. |
| In the light of Friday morning, June 7, we all finally got together and said our hellos. It had been since January that I had done a Pro Impact show, although I had seen most of the guys at other demos. One thing we had to get done that day was to build a spine ramp, and Jeff and the guys took off for Home Depot to get the supplies, while Sarah and I explored the town of Warrenton to get our bearings and learn a little history along the way. After lunch, we met up with our host, Dana, who took us to the demo site, a huge parking lot in front of a K-Mart. The area did have a slope to it, which Jason and Bob tested out many times riding a shopping cart at maximum speed. I knew that good times were the order of the weekend. |
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After a series of starts and
stops, turns and returns, we found our way to the parking lot of Cornerstone
Church, where Dana is the pastor. He has been holding regular skate nights
for the local skate community and having us at this year's event was an
effort to bring his message to the larger community of Warrenton. We set
out to build a spine ramp that we would use in the demo, and then leave
for the kids to have for future skate nights. Everyone set to work, especially
Joe, Bob and Jason, who spearheaded the effort and made sure we all stayed
on task. About 3 hours later, we had a completed spine ramp, and loaded
it on a flatbed trailer with all the other props from the church. We then
went off to a nice dinner and a welcomed night of rest for us all.
On Saturday, we got to the site around 7 AM to set up Bob's Ride-n-Grind ramps and the spine, get the sound going and have some practice time too. Joe set the ramps with great precision and Jason kept us all working to get the show set and ready. Sarah set up the product and autograph table and ran it efficiently. Everyone really pitched in and made the event a comfortable and a fun set up for us all, now all we had to do were the shows. We had three shows during the day, with show times of 10:30 AM, Noon and 1:30 PM, with clinics held between each show. This gave us an opportunity to showcase our skills as well as allowed the locals to ride our props and learn from all of us too. It certainly turned out to be a lot of an expression session of controlled chaos. |
| Each show was a blast, with Jeff, Billy and myself mixing it up on the mike while the action roared on around us. Highlights included Joe Tecca skying high off the quarter pipe, throwing 360 airs over the spine and pulling turn down jump box jumps with ease. Jason Richard spun 360s and 540s over the jump box, hit head high airs on the quarter pipe and ruled the spine too. Jeff Ferris made extreme ho-ho plants, inverts (even an invert to disaster on the spine), finger flips to tail on the spine as well as vaulting methods over the jump box. Bob Kohl was "krazy" as always, throwing 360 airs over the jump box, head high back flips and tabletop airs 6 feet out of the quarter pipes. Billy Gawrych wowed the crowd with his inventive flatland routine and showcased multiple combinations with ease and power. I got into the mix too, throwing 540 shuvits, handstand finger flips, nollie shuvits, 360s and big spins. |
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The crowd also got a chance
to get into the mix, when we had time to bring people out as volunteers.
I jumped over a kid (slightly grazing his head), while Billy bunny hopped
over 6 kids on the ground. Jeff, Jason and Joe vaulted over up to 10 kids
under the jump box, while Bob flipped over them too. Dana was able to
give our volunteers product he had received and there were lots of smiles
all around. The clinics went well too, as we gave instruction to the various
riders on boards, blades and bikes. I even took out my tools and helped
fix a few youngsters boards by tightening screws and loosening trucks.
After each demo, we signed autograph cards, handed out stickers and just enjoyed the folks in Virginia. The people were extremely nice and friendly, and it made me proud to have grown up in the great state of Virginia. The other guys also noticed this southern hospitality and embraced it in a positive way. Dana and all his crew did a great job, and took care of all the details to make X-Day 2 a wonderful event for the families throughout the community. As we said our goodbyes, we knew it would just be a matter of time before we would see each other again, but that would be in another place at another time, getting to do what we love with our friends and the new ones to come. Peace, Dr. Skateboard
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