Greg was one Apple's main locals. Interview conducted via email in December, 2002.
I'm thirty-nine years old, I was born in Addison, Illinois and lived in Worthington Hills, Ohio during Apple days.
When and where did you start skating?
I started skating in Worthington during my freshman year in high school (1977) after I met a guy from So Cal named Steve Trosko, who had just moved to Worthington.
How did you first hear of Apple?
I first heard about Apple from Mike Ohm.
Were you there on Apple's opening day? If so, what was it like?
Yes, I was there observing during the construction and was also there on opening day. The place totally blew my mind, as we had only been skating some sketchy (but fun, and the last one we built at Trosko's house was cool) driveway ramps up to that point. The pools really freaked me out at first—they were very intimidating.
How often did you go to Apple?
I went to Apple five days per week from the day it opened, and attended all of the all-night skate sessions.
Which areas of the park were your favorites?
My favorite parts of the park were the L-bowl, the halfpipe and the keyhole.
Please comment on any of the pros that visited Apple.
David Andrecht was smooth, Brad Bowman shredded, Steve Caballero was rad, Mike McGill was good, Steve Olson shredded and Duane Peters was awesome (his triple slide rock walk was insane, as were the acid drops into the deep end of egg pool—crazy!) Eddie Elguera was unbelievable. I remember watching him trying to axle stall the two-thirds pipe all day and he actually made it!
What tricks did you do and in which areas of the park?
I was known for several tricks: backside ollies into the halfpipe from the flat, reverse laybacks in the L, 360 rock 'n' roll board slides, footplants, gnarly frontside grinds and 360 tail taps.
What is the raddest thing you saw happen at Apple?
The raddest thing I saw? That's hard...the two thirds pipe axle stall by Eddie, Rob Roskopp's frontside airs at the top edge of the two thirds pipe landing in the halfpipe were radical, Casey Marzetti's acid drops in the deep end of the kidney were outrageous and Kenny Mollica did some insane handplants.
Worst slams?
I saw Mike Ohm hang-up on a frontside air in the halfpipe and snap his ankle at the bottom one time--ouch!
How did Apple rate as a skatepark?
Apple was super-rad...that's all there is to it!
What were its strong points and weak points?
Strengths: super-smooth with lots of variety. The halfpipe! Weaknesses: the transitions in the kidney and egg were a little small.
Did you ever skate a park that was better?
I never skated a better park.
Did you ever attend any am contests, parties or sleep-over sessions at Apple?
Yes, I attended almost every event Apple held. All of the contests, parties (I was part of the big kegger with Wayne and Steve), lots of sleep-overs and all-night skates. We used to line-up around the keyhole and push as hard as we could in a big snake line into the L-bowl and jump out of the deep end as high as we could.
Please describe any vivid memories you have of Apple.
Kenny Mollica mooning the crowd as he backside grinded the keyhole. The first time I backside aired out of the halfpipe. Mike Ohm hopping across the park after snapping his ankle in half from hanging-up in the halfpipe. When the wooden halfpipe was finished by Ronn Dudley. So many memories!
Did you hear that Apple was going to close?
Yes, I knew it was closing. I was rippin' the halfpipe one day when some suits came in. They watched for a while and told me it was too bad that the pools would be filled with stones soon and that all good things must come to an end.
Did you get in a last session? If so, describe.
Yes, my last session was totally cool. All the true locals were there--MIke Ohm, Dave Bush, Wayne Lyons, Steve Kipp, Kevin Tate. It was rad, but sad!
Were you bummed when Apple was destroyed?
Totally bummed!
Where do you live now?
I live in Columbus, Ohio with my wife Angie.