In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Cindy was one of very few girl pros. She skated and hung-out at tons of skateparks (check out noidnoskate.com for proof)—Apple was no exception. Interview conducetd via email on June 22, 2002
Where were you born? Where did you grow up?
I was born in Los Angles, California. I have lived in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach my whole life.
When did you start skating?
When I was fifteen years old.
Who or what got you started skating?
I wanted to be better at something than my older brother—he was a star swimmer / water polo player. He couldn't even do a 360 on a skateboard. Also, hanging-out at Hermosa Pier, there were a lot of people doing freestyle and that's where I started.
I noticed on noidnoskate.com that you were a member of numerous skateparks—what attracted you so strongly to the skate scene?
I skated numerous parks because I traveled with guys from my team to contests all over and we needed to practice on different terrain. Also, it was an adventure!
Which park was the best? Why? Do you recall any funny, strange or wild things happening at any of the parks?
I loved Skateboard World in Torrance, California (one of the first parks built)—that's where I learned to skate vert. I also loved Marina—the bowls were awesome and my friends and I skated there every day until it closed!
Which skaters did you hang-out with?
Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Brad Bowman, Mike Folmer, Bert Lamar, Polar Bear (Dennis Agnew)—pretty much the Dogtown crew and the Sims Team, as well as the Powell boys when I was in Santa Barbara.
Did you ever skate with Laura Thornhill, Patti Hoffman, Carabeth Burnside or any other girls?
Yeah, but mainly at contests—we were so spread out and there were so few of us, we did not really "hang-out".
Were you ever sponsored? By Who? Were you ever pro?
Yes, I was sponsored by Powell, Sims, Pepsi and Z-Flex at various times. Sims was my biggest / longest sponsor and treated me so well—I love all those people! I turned pro during the Hester Series at Winchester Skatepark at age sixteen. I skated all the Hester competitions and came in 3rd overall for female vert.
How did the skate-trip come about (the one that took you to Apple)?
The skate-trip to Apple came about from a guy I met who had a group called The World Skating Association. I had mentioned to him that girls did not get as many sponsored tours as guys, so he started setting-up this three-week trip for me to coincide with a two-page article and centerfold that I was featured in (on the Pepsi ramp) for Wild World Of Skateboarding Magazine. We also included Duke Rennie (my boyfriend at the time), as it was interesting to have a female pro skateboarder and a male pro rollerskater—kind of reverse stereotypes.
I just found an article from Rollerskating Magazine that featured this skate tour we did and it talks about Apple and Cherry Hill. You know, Rollerskating was owned by Skateboarder Magazine back then, so perhaps someone has all these photos on file somewhere. It's funny what you remember and what you don't remember from back then. I thought that trip was maybe seven to ten days total, but it turns out that it was twenty-two days! What was my mom thinking? (-: I just remember having the time of my life and doing wild and crazy stuff with Duke and Jay Smith—it was a blast! I'm really happy that I had a chance to have all these cool experiences and meet so many nice people.
Which places did the trip take you to?
The trip included two parks in Florida, the ASR trade show there, plus Apple and Cherry Hill. It was one of my most memorable trips ever. We did TV shows and interviews everywhere we went and people were just sooo nice!
What happend at Cherry Hill?
Duke and I judged an amateur contest that was at Cherry Hill—I remember that Jamie Godfrey won. I think he may have skated at Apple, too.
Uh, I should be careful here. We were sixteen years old and had a "chaperone", but that was really a joke. She was young (twenty-five or so) and wild—hooking-up with our skater friends. So, lets just say she wasn't really keeping an eye on Duke and I (which was cool), and it was one big party for the three weeks we traveled! (-:
How many times did you go to Apple?
Just that one trip, but we skated it for probably three days straight. As far as other people at Apple, it turns out that Dave Bush and Michael Musgrave (Apple's manager) met Duke and I at the airport and took us to Gene Goldberg's (Apple's owner) house to talk skating (and that's where we stayed all week). Their family also owned Charles Chips, I believe. We don't have that brand of potato chips out here and I remember that they had HUGE tins of them in their house! Karen was really cool and introduced me to Bob Marley Music, which I had not really listened to before. She came to the park with us after she got out of school most days to hang and watch everyone skate.
What was your impression of Apple when you first walked out into the park and after skating it?
I thought, "Whoa, an indoor skatepark!"—we did not have those in California. Also, that Apple was everything I heard people say it was.
Which areas of the park were your favorite? Why?
The pools for sure—so smooth and so grindable!
Did you skate with any pros there?
Mainly Duke, myself and Jay Smith.
\What tricks did the pros do and in which areas of the park?
Duke was trying 540s at that time.
What tricks did you do and in which areas of the park?
I was getting my hand plants down in the pool and pipe.
What is the raddest thing you saw happen at Apple?
I would say the people there going nuts seeing Duke get an unreal amount of air on rollerskates.
How did Apple rate as a skatepark? What were its strong points and weak points?
I think it was a great park—it was in the top three for sure! I don't remember anything "weak" about it.
Did you ever skate a park that was better?
Different, yes—but, better is subjective as a skater. For me, maybe Marina because I hung-out there seven days a week for two years.
Please describe any vivid memories you have of Apple.
Just having a great time with nice people and skating oh-so-smooth pools.
How did you acquire Karen Goldberg's ID card?
As far as Karen's ID card, that's something girls do for fun. Since her dad owned the park, we took numerous shots of ourselves and made more ID cards than we really needed. When I left, I gave her one and she gave me one to "remember" each other by! See, it's a chick thing—guys would never do this. Karen never skated, but she was a really nice girl and I really enjoyed hanging out with her—I never got to hang out with too many girls, so it was fun.
Weren't you filmed by a TV station at the park?
We did a TV show called Columbus Alive while we were there, as well as numerous photo shoots.The TV show was a segment on CUBE TV, which was a cable TV station in Columbus. I doubt you will be able to find anything about it, but if you do, let me know as I never got a tape of that! Duke is in that show, as well—we were interviewed and they shot footage of us skating the park.
Were you bummed when Apple was destroyed?
Yes, I was bummed when all the parks started getting torn-down. You could see the end coming and it was really sad.
Please add any other memories, info or comments that you wish.
I still have my Apple hat and iron-on logo that they gave me—I am so happy I kept all that stuff!
When did you stop skating (if you did)? Why?
I stopped when there were no more parks left. I had little interest in going back to freestyle, plus we were all about twenty years old then, so we had to figure out another way to make money. Skateboarding was our career for so long, it was a huge shock for most of us. "Real" jobs had not even been thought of.
Even if you stopped, did you ever pick up a skate mag in the supermarket and kind of keep-up with what was happening in skating throughout the ’80s and ’90s?
Absolutely! As soon as things stared happening again, I started watching.
Have you ever skated in recent years?
Yes, at Vans Skatepark in Orange County—it felt so good, and I saw people from the old days.
What do you do now for fun?
Surf, snowboard, mountain bike and skate occasionally.
For the "Where Are They Now?" section, where do you now live and work? Married? Kids?
I still live and work in Hermosa Beach, California. I am married to a non-skating sports photographer, no kids at this point. I am still very involved in the sports world, doing wardrobe styling for pro and Olympic athletes. I just got to work on the upcoming August, 2002 cover of TV Guide for the X-Games, which gave me a chance to hang and chat with Dave Mirra, Fabiola da Silva and Bucky Lasek in Atlanta—so, it keeps me in the "loop" anyway. Brad Bowman is a make-up artist—which is kinda cool. I keep saying that I am going to start skating the parks avidly again (been to Vans in OC a few times), but finding time as an adult is harder than when we were sixteen.
Any general plans or goals for the future?
To make time to skate at my local parks more! I really miss all that.