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Plankfest Will Rock For Skate Park

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By JO-ANN JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

DADE CITY - This year's Plankfest, Pasco County's homegrown rock festival, will help raise money for kids trying to get a skateboard park built in Dade City.

The festival is will be the late afternoon and evening of Oct. 27 at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, 36722 State Road 52. The gates will open at 4 p.m. Nine bands are featured and will perform onstage inside the Dan Cannon Auditorium starting at 4:30 p.m. The acts will continue until about 11 p.m. according to Brad Ash, a musician and Pasco High School teacher who organizes the event each year.

Ash and high school students conceived of the event as a way to give young alternative rock musicians the chance to perform locally, and to give fans of the music more chances to hear live concerts. Tickets are $10 each and will be sold at the gate.

In the past, the concert has raised enough money to cover the costs of equipment and labor, with only a little cash left over to put toward various school activities. Last year, for instance, the festival attracted about 300 people, and cost about $2,500 to stage.

This year, Plankfest has loftier goals, Ash said. He'd like to see the festival attract 500 or more ticket buyers, and he'd like to donate the proceeds (after costs) to the ongoing fundraising effort to build a skateboard park in Dade City.

Ash said he got the idea for helping the park effort after reading about local businesswoman Allison Todd's attempts to raise money for a park. Todd owns The Coffee Mug in downtown Dade City at 38009 Meridian Ave., just across Pasco Avenue from the historic Pasco County Courthouse. She started raising private money for a skateboard park because so many youngsters get into trouble near her business for skateboarding on the streets and sidewalks after the school day ends. The city hasn't had enough money in its budget to construct a dedicated skate park, so Todd has taken on the long-term effort of raising the cash.

That struck a chord with Ash.

'I was a skateboarder all through high school and college,' said Ash, 38, 'and I remember what it was like not having a place to skate and being yelled at by adults for skating on the sidewalk.'

Meanwhile, Plankfest was growing in its appeal to young adults, many of the same people who like to skate or who have friends who skate.

So Ash decided to 'see if we can get some money out of the festival to help with the skate park. That music and the skating go hand in hand.'

Todd said she has no specific fundraising target in mind: 'We're just going to be grateful for whatever we raise.'

She hopes to attract some skilled skaters to do demonstrations during the festival, she said, to bring out even more supporters.

As for the music, Ash said there will be an open mic opportunity outside the auditorium for musicians to play. The schedule for the main stage is booked with the nine featured bands, Ash said. The musical groups include performers in their teens and 20s, from towns including Dade City, Zephyrhills, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and the Orlando area.

Food will also be sold during the event, with at least some of the proceeds going toward the park. Tom Oberhaus Restaurants of Dade City has agreed to donate hot dogs that the festival organizers will sell during the event, with proceeds going toward the park. Todd and Ash said they are trying to line up other food and beverage vendors as well.

Todd said skilled skateboarders who want to participate should call her at (813) 453-5310.

To learn more about the musical acts, go to the Web site: www.MySpace.com/plankfest101.

Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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