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Santa Rolls In On 4 Wheels

Tribune file photo by GREG FIGHT

Santa will deliver skateboards today to kids in the Perry Harvey Park area.

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By SARAH HOYE

shoye@tampatrib.com

Published: December 20, 2008

TAMPA - Santa Claus will roll into some neighborhoods a little bit early this year.

He'll deliver skateboards today to kids in the Perry Harvey Park area.

To help out the fat man, volunteer elves - disguised as employees of Skatepark of Tampa and some former skaters - assembled the skateboards Thursday night.

Skatepark of Tampa collects new and used boards, wheels, trucks and bearings throughout the year and refurbishes the equipment for its annual Boards for Bro's program. In November, an art show fundraiser brought in $2,000, which was used to purchase more parts needed to complete the boards. Organizers hosted Thursday's assembly party to ready the boards for the weekend.

Skaters have dubbed the concrete slab at Perry Harvey Park the "Bro Bowl" for its location in a mostly black neighborhood a short walk from the former Central Park Village public housing. A bowl is a depression in the ground used for skating.

"Boards for Bro's" got its start in 2006, when SPoT general manager Ryan Clements, volunteer and skater Ed Womble, and skateboard manufacturer Paul Schmitt had a conversation about giving back to the community.

"For me, skateboarding has been the only constant in my life," Clements said over the grind of an electric drill. "When things were tough, I'd focus on skating. They're our little bros, and our whole thing was to give kids something to do. If we can pass that gift of skating on, it's worth it."

SPoT gave away 30 boards that year, and 180 in 2007. The group estimates it will give away 225 boards at this year's event.

Beginning at noon, Santa and SPoT employees will drive from neighborhood to neighborhood to deliver the boards. The delivery route includes Desoto Park (2617 Corrine St.), Perry Harvey Park (900 E. Scott St.) and a possible third location to be determined.

"Ryan's not making any money off of this, and these are all volunteers," Womble said as he spray-painted the SPoT logo on boards. "But it all pays off on one Saturday a year. The looks on the faces when we pull up is priceless."

A new, quality skateboard averages from $80 to $120, a price tag that can be prohibitive in this economy.

"It's very rewarding to know that something I love to do can be used to give back to someone less fortunate than I am," said Jorge Angel, executive assistant at SPoT. "I think it's a very creative way to give back to the community."

Local skateboarders joined forces in 2006 when they learned of a plan to renovate Harvey Park and tear down the Bro Bowl, which opened in 1979 and gained national attention in a Tony Hawk video game.

The Skatepark, founded by 36-year-old Brian Schaefer in 1993, was featured on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," when the organization donated skateboards to the Tate family of Davis Islands, who lost their home in a plane crash. It is home to a winter amateur competition and a spring professional competition in which the winner rolls away with $100,000.

Donate your new or used skateboard parts to the Skatepark of Tampa, 4215 E. Columbus Drive; (813) 621-6793; www.boardsforbros.com. Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832.

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