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Email me your comments and I'll put them in the Guestbook.
Hey Garry—Love all the old school pics. Apple looked a lot like Cherry Hill and this is why I'm mailing you. I saw a post in your Guestbook from a Paul Pellerin, 10-1-02. He talks about having pics of Jamie Godfrey and his bro. Jamie was our local god in Cherry Hill...lol...and I would love to see those pics. Is there any way I could get his email, or could you give him mine? Hey, good luck with the web site. I have really enjoyed reading it.—Brian (Just one more skategeezer), 12-30-02
This is Eric Harrison—Rag Read 'zine publusher(!) and Neil Blender friend. I just read some of your Apple recollection—AWESOME! Call me TODAY if you can. I can tell you some funny stuff about Apple—I was born and raised twelve miles from there.—Eric Harrison, 12-26-02
It was nice talking to you the other day. I was at a meeting today with our city—we are building a skatepark! It's going to be a nice concrete park with a nice, closed bowl. Anyways, I'm attaching a picture of my Apple Skatepark ID card, and also a current picture of me with my current board as well as my Powell board from Apple. I'm still digging through my pictures for the Apple photos. As soon as I find them, I will scan them for you. A guy at the skatepark meeting tonight used to skate Apple. I asked him if he saw your site, and he said that he cried when he found it! Your site is bringing back a lot of great memories. Thanks.—Jeff Kasson. 12-20-02
Hey Garry—I love the web site. This blows my mind. I did a lot of skating there and recently found out about this site and dug through some of my archives. I have some stuff, too, but here is a letter I sent to Kenny Mollica regarding the last contest at Apple.
"Okay Kenny, I will type this article I found in Skat'n News for ya—First Annual Apple Skatepark Amateur Series. You're gonna hate the fact that this was the last series before the park closed and you didn't clean up, but remember all the guys were working on their lines except you. I remember the moment exactly. When your run was up in the egg bowl, you came blazing in at the last second high on a couple of b's and Brett was skating rad and solid. I had a feeling he was gonna hold the lead—and he did—but your run got lots of local cheer. Still, Brett was hitting some high airs, smooth lines and good inverts. You had an invert, some rock and rolls and lots of lip tricks etc. In the end, Brett was the victor ('cept me, old friend). Everyone was shredding pretty hard that day. Photos in this article included myself, Chris Phillips and you pulling a nice frontside air. I'll send you a copy of this, too."—Sean Patrick, 12-6-02
Hey! Just checking out the Apple Site. My old skate punk buddy Wayne Lyons just turned me on to it. My name is Greg Mack and I was one of the hardcore locals that ripped up the bowls from the start to the end of the park. You may remember the six-keg party that got raided by the cops (yeah, that was me). Good work on the site. What a great trip down memory lane. But, it's not complete without the rad shots of the true locals rippin' it up!—Greg Mack, 11-26-02
Wow, talk about a blast from the past—showing up over a cable modem in my Northern Idaho living room over twenty years after the fact, nonetheless! Hi Garry, I am Sean Patrick and I just found this web site from the help of a lifelong friend, Ken Mollica, who just phoned me from Ohio. You can see me in the fifth photo down in your Egg Bowl 2 photo gallery ripping a fakie footplant. I spent nearly every day of the [nearly] two years Apple was open riding that glorious place with a vengeance. I know all those skaters very well and have crossed paths with most of them in the strangest of places over the years since. I honestly don't believe I ever skipped a competition there in the 14 & under age division, but I may have.
I still have dreams of doing acid drops in the deep end of that kidney pool and landing with almost zero speed to go on! Just to mention some of the locals, I skated religiously with Ken Mollica, Casey Marzetti, Brett Martin, Mike Ohm, Dave Bush, Wayne Lyons, Pete Kunz, Kevin Tate, Chris Phillips, Charley and Andy Shively, Whitney Calpin, Rob Roskopp, Jeff Kasson and the late Blaze Nessor, who used to carve the hell out that place.
I would pay anything to have that L-bowl in my backyard today. Kevin Tate once gave me a Mini DP model (one of two made), which is still in my garage next to Burton's first snowboard. I gave the old Apple Skatepark sign away about twenty-one years ago, which I had in my bedroom after the park went down. I don't remember who I gave it to anymore.
I miss Apple and all the way cool skaters of days long past. I still shred the powder with Kenny all over the West now and then and skate with locals in Idaho. Thanks for digging up the fondest memories of my past on this totally rad site. I am blown away! Check the results of the Apple contest series circa 1980, you should find me in there. Contact me here in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Let's have a beer someday. More later. :O) Ride on!—Sean "Paddy" Patrick, 11-25-02
Garry—Way to go on tracking people down by starting an Apple web site. I do have a few photos, but not many. I got into photography after Apple closed. I will hunt them down and send them to you, but it might take a while. We did meet a couple times at Rob's. Some moments in time back then are fuzzy. Have you heard from Rob? I would love to talk to him. I read Marty's and your interview—good stuff. What the heck are you doing now? When I lived in California, I think you were working for a skate mag. I saw that Dave Bush emailed in. He would be a great interview. He did get a bum rap from some people in the interviews. Dave might have looked like Daune, but Dave was his own person. He was always on the cutting edge before and after he met Duane. There is another person that might have photos of Apple—Steve Trosko. I will give him a call. Thanks again. I will visit often. If you know how I can get in touch with Rob, I would love that.—Wayne Lyons, 11-21-02
Hi Garry—Mike Ohm turned me on to this site tonight. Very cool and a great trip down memory lane. It is great to read some of the stories. It's funny to read that Kevin Tate did not think I was a regular at the end. There was nobody that visited Apple more than Dave Bush, Mike Ohm, Steve Kipp, Greg Mack and myself (including Kenny) in the time that it was open. We went there four or five times a week from beginning to end. We had the last session after the park was closed and the bowls were jackhammered on the bottom (we broke in). That is a great story. I / we might incriminate ourselves with the events of that night, but it is still very vivid.
Kevin might remember a senior party that we had at Apple where all of Worthington High School showed up. The Apple logo was painted shortly after Apple opened. The rich guy was the owner of the complex. He and Kevin actually worked together the last two months. Both of them let us (Greg, Steve and I) have that senior party at the park. Well, it would take me all night to talk about what I remember. I only had a few moments to look over some of the photos and interviews. I can't believe that you put this site together—great job. I can't wait to talk to you and others. Twenty-two years later, I still dream about Apple! Literally!—Wayne Lyons, 11-20-02
Garry—Hey, glad you remember the ol' Kentucky ramp. When I left the area for the North West, I gave that thing to some other kids and I guess it got tossed through a number of skaters before it just rotted out. I help keep the ship runnin at CCM Prep. We deal with everything really—music, theate, dance for kids and adults. I manage the school, but still play guitar, take lessons and have a pretty varied palette myself...all kinds of music.
I've only been back in Cincinnati about a year, so it's a new gig I landed when I got here. I still don't know how long I will stay in the area. I think I got a lil' bit spoiled with the West Coast—mountains to ride, lots of banks and concrete to skate, the ocean. Most of the people I know really well in my older years are all out there, but it is cool to see the city I grew up in comin' along, barely, but still thriving on certain levels. It's also good to see old freinds and family, but, ya know, there is a good couple of reasons I left and those things still apply.
Anyway, keep skating and being real and make sure ya tell Jinx and the Barn I say hello! Take care!—Tom Board, 11-13-02
P.S. I will send out the Apple stuff I have, which is only some membership cards from me, Erin and Jeff—some kids I skated with way back when. They all still live here—trip! Should I scan 'em or should I just send 'em and you could send 'em back? I kinda want to keep 'em, for some strange reason—lil' piece of history, or at least my story. Skate Attack!
Do you have any history on the third unknown photo in the Halfpipe section (I always referred to it as a 3/4 pipe)? I think that's me. I still have the blue Protec. But anyway, great site. As soon as I found it, I went looking for my Apple ID card, but no luck. I might have some Apple photos, or my friends might. There were six of us from up East of Cleveland that came down as often as we could get a ride. I remember seeing Fred Blood and Steve Olson in person, as well as buying some really cool gear in the shop. Thanks.—Tim Horton, 11-12-02
Hi Garry—Hope you're doing well. Just checked out the site! Nice job, brings back some great memories. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you, but life has been a blur lately. It was fun to read through all the posts and interviews on the site. Funny how people remember things differently! Just for the record, I never stopped skateboarding while I got into the rollerskating thing for awhile. I just got bored with the roller skating bit—skateboarding always was (and is) so much harder! I'll look through some old photos I have and scan 'em and send 'em your way. I noticed you have a couple up on the site already. Where did you get those? I recently heard Kenny Molica won the La Costa slalom race. He beat out Olson, too! Nice job, eh! Take care. —Rob Roskopp, 11-11-02
Hi, my name is Jessi Y and I just wanted to tell you that I really love the pics that you have on this site! To me, since I'm not really all that good at skating, I like to look at pics and take pics of my bro and his friends and my friends on their boards! Again, I really like the pics. Well, keep up what you're doing—its GREAT!—Jessi Y, 11-10-02
HI there, I just came across your Apple Skatepark web site, and I am totally getting chills up my body, cuz I was one of the very few people that was privileged to skate Apple in 1980. I'm thirty-five now and still skate in Boca Raton, Florida and North Port. I now reside in Tampa. I just wanted to write to you, as Apple was the best skatepark I have ever ridden and I truly miss it. I lived in Michigan when I went there and drove all the way to Columbus to skate it on weekends. I remember skating that twelve-foot egg shape pool. It was a true monster to me, cuz I was only, like, thirteen years old.
I wish there were more skateparks like Apple or Cherry Hill now. We have Vans in Orlando, but its not the same as Apple. I have ran into one guy in South Florida at the Olsner skatepark in West Palm Beach who also skated at Apple. We laughed and both said, "Yeah. that park was one of the best skateparks ever built to this date." I'm truly sorry that it still doesn't exist. If I had photos, I would send them, but I don't. I only have that Apple sticker on my bulletin board that I have had since I was thirteen. I'm glad to see that you have a photo gallery. It has just made my day looking at all these pics from Apple.
Thanks again for the fond memories. So, are you one of the builders of this park? I'd like to hear back from you. I also heard you had some input or built the Olsner park in West Palm Beach. Is this true? Thanks again. Sincerely,—Drew Justice, 11-10-02
Drew , It was probably Pete Kunz you met at Olsner. —Garry
Garry—Hey man, it's been so f-ing long ago, so many miles and twisted stories, so much fun, so many broken bones! The Apple site is rad! Thanks for putting something together that gets across how cool this place was for us heartlanders. I rode there a few times—not nearly as much as I would have liked, but the memories are still there. Great fucking park! I broke my leg there trying to learn backside airs in that reservoir behind the L-bowl and halfpipe. I also remember spending hours just flying out of that lil' res. The L-bowl raged and we were just little geeks trying not to get run over by the locals—funny stuff.
I met you a few times at Cherry Lane, Rob's ramp, and you came over to Kentucky to skate my ramp before you guys took off for the Left Coast. I think I still have my Apple membership card, so I will get that to ya. If you are still in touch with Rob and Marty, tell um "hey" for me. Glad to see you folks are still involved in the evolution of the sport and keepin' it root down! I'm still skating for fun, snowboarding quite a bit, just moved back here to Cincy a year or so ago. I'm sure you know those kids at Anonymous Skate Shop up in Clifton are keeping it alive. There are parks poppin' up all over the place. I haven't gotten to ride 'em yet, but it's on the "must do" list. I went and checked out the D.O. banks a few times. Still fun, but man, ya really gotta push off like a mofo to get trick speed. That didn't bother me as much when I was fifteen! Well, thanks again, man, and keep it real! Skate Attack! Do it!—Tom Board, University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, 11-6-02
My name is Tony Hallam, I started skating in the mid-'70s down under in New Zealand and now live in Australia. I never skated Apple, but noticed the rise and rapid fall of both Cherry Hill and then Apple skateparks during the late '70s through Skateboarder mag. They looked amazing and one can only imagine if those parks were still open, what would be possible and how much fun would be had. It makes me wonder though, why doesn't Vans shoes buy these buildings off the current owners—subject to an inspection beneath the current warehouse surface—and excavate if there is evidence of the old skatepark? I'm sure the bowls are only filled with dirt and the current surface is only a skin covering the old skatepark. Just a thought, but certainly worth consideration.
Over the years, I have spoken to many '70s pro skateboarders about their favourite skateparks, and Apple always comes up. If Apple would've survived a little longer, who knows...we had a '70s commercial skatepark survive here until '87, then it closed because of vandalism and the fact that it sucked. But, it was nothing compared to Apple, and the only thing it had in common was being made of concrete. Garry, if I ever turn up another Apple shirt and sticker, they are yours. Thanks again for a great site and I love the updates—I check in at least once a week to see what's new. How about making a Cherry Hill site or offering the opportunity to do so on your site? Regards.—Tony Hallam, 10-26-02
Thanks for the info, Garry. I'm positive that it is me in the picture—I recognize the shoes, pads, wheels, clothes, etc..I'm probably the only guy who didn't use Rector pads, because I didn't have any money! It would be great if I could get more pictures that other people took of me. I don't have any videos of my days at Apple, but this guy named Steve video taped me a few times. Also, T-Bone took hundreds of pictures of me over several hours and visits. I would really love to get copies of them. The art department as OSU did a story on me, and I have a few of their pics, but they are more like "art of motion" than mag pics. I'm really excited to see Pete Kunz's interview. We worked together during the construction of the park, and we did other things together. We used to skate pre-Apple at Arcadia off of High street. I have always admired his surf-style. Thanks for keeping the memories alive!—Jeff Kasson, 10-25-02
Hi—Hey, I just wanted to let you know that the "Unknown" picture in the keyhole is me. I'm sorry we couldn't get in touch over the phone, but if you would like to email me some questions, I can respond to you with answers. I'm usually hard to track down. I love the Apple site! I have some bumper stickers, some pictures that I will scan and send to you and a few membership cards, too. I made most of the membership cards, because I worked in the pro-shop. Thanks.—Jeff Kasson, 10-24-02
Garry—I'm glad that you're doing the site—it's killer. As a true reg, Apple was my life. I loved it, as well as a lot of the guys. I'd be happy to do an interview. I have the real video of all the Apple Skatepark skaters, but people that I know would not allow me to make a copy. Kevin Tate has a lot more photos than you know—he should give them up. There are a lot of skaters that would love to look in the past.—Casey Marzetti, 10-14-02
Garry—I haven't seen Pete Kunz since Apple. He was really cool when I was there. The guys I used to skate with were Kenny Mollica, Rob Roskopp, Mike Ohm, Wayne Lyons, Dave Bush, Casey Marzetti, Charley Shivley, Brett Martin and Kevin Tate. It would be cool to hear from any of those guys. The last I heard, the Goldbergs live here in Florida in Sarasota or Ft. Meyers. Gene and Joan were really cool to me. They let me stay with them at their home in Bexley a few times when I had hitch-hiked to the park. I was thinking that you and I may have even skated together at some point. It's a small world, isn't it? Thanks for the info on Karen and feel free to give any of my info to any of the old Apple crew! Keep in touch.—Jay Brentlinger, 10-11-02
Garry—Hey, it's Dave Bush from Apple Skatepark. I really enjoyed the web site you've got. I really kinda took a beating in some of those interviews! I think people just misunderstood, really. I would be happy to talk with you anytime. The best time to reach me is in the evening or on Saturday / Sunday afternoons. Hope things are well for you, and I look forward to talking to you. Take care.—Dave Bush, 10-5-02
Garry—Thanks for getting back to me. I hope that you have a killer 40th birthday. I remember Kevin Tate always taking pictures—he probably has tons of great ones. I lived in the park for about three months in the Summer of 1980. That is me getting my hair cut by Jay Smith. We had so many killer after-hours sessions. We would skate till two or three in the morning. I see you interviewed Brian Mank, he still rips hard. We grew up together in Toledo. I used to hitch-hike to Apple in the dead of Winter from Toledo. It was about 175 miles, I was insane.
Where did you get Karen Goldberg's ID card? I dated her for about three years. She is Gene Goldberg's daughter (he was the owner of Apple). Send me her email address if you have it, it would be cool to drop her a line. If you are ever contacted by any of the old Apple crew, give them my email and phone number, it would be great to hear from those guys. Thanks again for making such a great site. I try not to live in the past, but that place was probably one of the best times of my life. I still skate pools, and we have a ramp in our warehouse at work. I look forward to hearing from you again. If you ever get down to Florida, look me up. We can go grind the shit out of some pool coping!—Jay Brentlinger, 10-5-02
Garry—Site looks great! Brings back many killer memories. I lived at Apple (literally) in the summer of 1980. First with Mike Grau and then with Kevin Tate. We had some killer after-hours sessions. I have some pics around here somewhere that Kevin took. That guy missed his calling—he is a great photographer. I turn the big 4-0 in a month, doesn't seem possible. Still skating here in Florida, we have a ramp in our warehouse and the local YMCA has some killer pools. Get in touch sometime, I'd love to talk about the old days when pools ruled. Take it easy bro.—Jay Brentlinger, Apple Local, Winter 1979-Spring 1981, 10-2-02
Garry—I think your web site is great. I tried to find a similar site for Cherry Hill, but I was unsuccessful. Sorry, I don't have any items related to Apple. In 1981, we had planned to make a trip from Maine, but heard it was closed. However, I do have approximately thirty or forty photos of Cherry Hill from October, 1979. They are black and white, but almost all of them very clear, as my friend [that took them] was a photographer. We are only in a couple of the photos, because the park was beyond us. We had never skated pools or that much vert (the egg was sixteen feet deep, thirty-eight feet wide, sixty feet long with four feet of vert, massive transitions and an eight foot deep shallow end).
The photos include Jamie Godfrey (Powell), Victor Perez (Kryptonics), Dean Godfrey (Kryptonics and Jamie's seven year-old brother), plus many hot locals and a guy from Florida named Jamie, as well. Some of the photos are views of the halfpipe and pools. Mike Jeslowski (Powell) was working the pro-shop, but was unable to skate due to a cast on his leg. Let me know if you or someone might be interested in the photos.—Paul Pellerin, 10-1-02
GSD—I was checking out your Apple Skatepark site. Nice job. I grew-up in the area (Cincinnati). Apple was before my time, so I never got to skate there. It looked amazing. Was it the park in that DEVO video? I did skate the D.O. a bunch—even with Mark Mounts a few times around '86. I've been living in the North West since '87 and am enjoying the latest crop of skateparks in Washington and Oregon, which are better than ever. Are you still skating? Take care.—Brian Bauer, Seattle, 9-23-02
Hey man, this web site is awesome! I used to live near Cincy in Fairfield, Ohio and begged the parents to take me to Apple. I went about every other weekend with the Buzek twins. I kinda sucked back then, but it was fun as hell. Then I moved to Texas and started ripping pools and ramps. Of course, when they'd ask where I was from, I would say, "Ever heard of Apple Skatepark?" I still have an old raggedy Apple T-shirt somewhere in a box. Best memories are seeing Dave Andrecht's boardslide three-quarters of the way around the egg bowl and Duane Peters doing insane shit off the two-thirds pipe. Rob Roskopp was bad-ass, too. At the time, I didn't know he lived not too far from me in West Chester. Jinx came to my shitty basement mini-ramp once and he said it sucked (ha-ha). I've been in the military for eighteen years and still skate occasionally. Germany, Texas, FDR in Philly and now here. Again, great job putting this site together, great memories! CLASSIC!—Rich (Richie) West, Tacoma, Washington, 9-22-02
Is this GSD? Anyway, my name's Lance Dawes and I work for High Speed Productions (Thrasher ,Slap). I was checking out your site and remember seeing some Apple photos in the Thrasher archives. They were probably Ted Terrebonne's. I was the dark room lacky at Thrasher for a few years and filed or dated pretty much everything they had pre-'90s. I live in LA now, but I'm going up there (SF) soon, and I'll look around to see what I can find. Also, we have a grip of Terrebonne's photos—I'm sure he'd like them back. If you have an email address for him, I'd be glad to help him get his stuff back. Write back if you're interested.—Lance Dawes, 9-16-02
Hi Garry—Ted Terrebonne here. I was at Santa Cruz today and stopped by NHS. I was able to go through some old boxes of slides and found a shot of Steve Olson I took at Apple Skatepark. You are welcome to post it on your web site. If I ever come across any more, I’ll let you know. Later.—Ted Terrebonne, 9-14-02
This web site is a good look into the past of skateboarding that I spent my childhood oblivious to. Nowadays, all these little street "skaters" don't like skating transitions—they say that it's boring. Pool skating is the hardest thing you can learn on a skateboard. Nonetheless, they wouldn't be skateboarding if it weren't for Jay Adams, Tony Alva and all those other early, influential skaters. My idol is Steve Caballero. I was born in 1985, and ever since I rode a skateboard for the first time, I said to myself, "That's what I want to do." Now I skate the bowl in Monrovia Skatepark here in So Cal. The park is free—we sure would have appreciated that in the 80's. The reason is, it is owned by the city—it would have lasted.—Ryan Garganta, 9-7-02, SKATE AND DESTROY!
Hey Garry—I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed going through your web site. It brought back a lot of really good memories. Apple was truly an amazing park. I was kind of surprised not to see Kenny Molica in there. Anyway, I hope all is good with you! Take it easy.—Dave Andrecht, 8-16-02
The more I delve into your site, the more it saddens me. It is such a shame they closed that place. I found my keychain...but no ID card yet. This site almost brought a tear to my eye just the like the Dogtown movie. I saw El Gato, Duane Peters, Steve Olson, David Andrecht, Fred Blood, Brad Bowman, and Cab at Apple. I wish I had some photos, but my parents didn't like skateboarding and were generally unsupportive. I wish they had bought me some nice boards to ride. I'm still looking for Olson and Peters decks for my collection. It was the best time of my life.—Bruce Hill, 8-5-02
Garry—Thanks for the site. I had just contacted Ted Terrebonne to see if he had any photos of Apple—he has a great site. Apple was my life for the brief time it was open. I'm 38 now and still in Columbus, trying to skate once in a while. We have small public parks in Worthington, Dublin, downtown Columbus, Bexley, Marysville, a small indoor one on Morse Road and we're building one in Westerville. None of these come close to Apple. I still have a new Apple jersey shirt. My hope is that Vans will build a park here...there are rumors. Thanks for the great site. If I can find my card, I'll send it in. I know I have it.—Bruce Hill, 8-5-02
Very fond memories here of Apple. I lived in Louisville, Kentucky during the time and my dad would take me and a friend or two up to Columbus over the weekend to skate the park. I was very sad when it closed, as well, and turned into the UPS terminal. I hooked-up with Brit Parrott in the MESS series later on in the mid '80s and had a good time there, as well. Back to Apple, the one guy I really remember there was called "Flash". He'd work the park like a flash—LOL. What was his real name? Also, this other guy who rode a green DP with a very side stance. I think I saw Kevin Tate there every now and then, but never knew him personally. Funny that he lives out here in Hawaii, too. I can't remember taking any photos at Apple, but I'll ask my dad if he remembers—he might have taken some 8mm footage. Anyway, let ya go. Great site and good memories. Aloha.—Mike Kays, 8-5-02
Hey Garry—What's up? This is Dave Andrecht and I read your Apple site. It brought back a lot of memories. It was rad. I was there with Duke Rennie and we had a super-rad time. Anyway, I just wanted to say what's up. I use to have some Apple stickers and T-shirts, but I'm not sure where the heck they are now. Have a good one!—Dave Andrecht, 8-1-02
Hey Garry—Got to look at the rest of the site, and its great. Kind of put me in some sort of stupor...remembering all kinds of things. I just turned ten the same month the park opened and we would car-pool as much as we could. We only lived ten minutes away. I got my first skateboard there, which pretty much put me on course for the next eighteen years of my life. I would have never met you, or all of the other people that had so much fun together. I'll sign the Guestbook soon. Hope you are well!—Geoff Ortlip, 8-1-02
Garry—I'm glad I found your site! Dave Bush and I were looking at it today. To make things a bit weirder, lately I've been going to these concrete parks that are by my house. Leaves me thinkng about some of the cool places I got to go. I remember going to Upland, too. You took me there. That place was insane. Hope you are well, I'd love to know what you have been doing.—Geoff Ortlip, 7-31-02
Great site. How accesible is the building? What business is currently in it? Any help would greatly appreciated. I talked to Ferg and Bill Danforth and they had no info. Thanks for your help.—John Jared, 7-30-02
I don't have anything Apple-related, bit it sure looked like the killer park. I would saw my arms off to ride it. Allen Losi is the king.—Ed Gill, London, 7-22-02
Hey Garry—I was looking for stuff on Brett Martin when I found your Mike Hill interview on Apple. I was in Skate Fate a long time ago. I saw Mike and Brett yesterday at an Alien Workshop demo at the Baker Bowl in Middletown, Ohio. I was so stoked to see Brett still skating. We talked about the new Louisville skatepark—that place is insane.
My trips to Apple were rare also, as I didn't have a driver's license yet. But, my grandma lived in Columbus, so she quickly became my favorite grandma! I skated with Dave Combs and Joey Hill. Joey was the oldest, and when he finally got his license, we were so stoked—now we could skate Apple all the time! Wrong! On our second trip, we pulled up—only to find Apple closed. It was horrible. We broke in—and if I remember right—they had already filled-in all the pools. We took some crappy knee pads and other junk that was left in the place. It was a long ride home to Dayton.
After that, I met Mike, Brett, and Kevin Dickmann and skated their halfpipe. Those guys were always fun to skate with. My worst Apple memory is when I did downhill the day before our trip there and ate it bad. I had road rash covering the back of my ass and leg. I was oozing pretty good that night! I fell a couple times the next day at Apple, and my screams of pain echoed throughout the warehouse. Apple was a great skatepark—I miss it still. I'm sorry we never got to skate together, Garry.—Dan Raridan, aka Dan Druff, 7-8-02
Gare—Cosh and I are checking your site out right now. Thanks for emailing me once it was posted, jag-off! I am sad that I never got to ride Apple, but it's clear that park was part of the elite six (Winchester, Apple, Colton, Whittier, Marina, Cherry Hill, in no particular order). So what's on the property where Apple used to be? We have a machine shop strip mall-type place where Winchester use to be, where I'm convinced animals and children are regularly exploited and abused. My silly little band is back together, http://www.thefaction.net . I miss skateboarding—my knees don't let me do anything. Still bitter.—Gavin O'Brien, San Jose, California, USA, 7-4-02
Hey, man—I was surfing around and found your site. Wow. Apple was the only park I ever went to while I skated in the '70s and '80s. We lived in Indianapolis and went once for a couple of days. I can't remember the exact date, but while we were there, Eddie "El Gato" Elguera was there and even signed my Santa Cruz Stinger! We loved that place, man—it ripped! I've got my skate card and some pictures of me and my buds (one of me in the keyhole getting air over the entrance). I'll see if I can get some digital pics of them. Sold all my shit a few months ago on eBay (geez, old Skateboarder mags sure are in demand!) and regret it now. I have a long board and terrorize the streets again. BTW, I'm 38 and live in Dallas. I'll get the pics to ya soon, dude.—Kevin Curts, 7-3-02
Hi Garry —Nice web site. I have no idea where that photo of me in your portraits section came from—I've never seen it before now . Nice hair I had going on. I have some great skate shots of me in the pool at Apple that perhaps you took when Duke and I came there on a skate tour back in 1979. I will try to scan them and e-mail them to you, if you want. Your web site brought back lots of memories of that trip and all the fun Duke, Jay and I had.—Cindy Whitehead, 6-19-02
You have an awesome web site! Here are some pictures I took at Apple Skatepark around 1979. I hope you like looking at them as much as I do. These have been in a box for over twenty years. They bring back a ton of memories. If you decide to use any of them on your web site, the only thing I ask is for you to put a credit under each photo used. The skaters in the pictures are unknown to me, but I do remember that skatepark had some of the smoothest concrete I've ever skated! Have fun! Go Skate! Thanks!—Bob Leffler, 6-13-02
Hey Garry Davis—Really cool site, thanks for putting it up. Would you mind if we linked you to our site www.skateparkdesigner.com? Thanks.—Jerry Nolan, 6-5-02
Garry—Great site of Apple, it brings back many great memories. I know I still have my Apple ID card, I just have to find it. I lost my front teeth in the halfpipe. Here's a pic of me at Apple—a little frontside air in the keyhole on a Sims 12" plank with pizza-grip (a dangerous combination). Also enclosed is a pic of me skating the 24 ft. pipe at the new park in Louisville, Kentucky! It's the next best thing to Apple that I have skated and it's only an hour away (I live in Lexington).—Richie Wireman, 6-4-02
My best friend Scott Elliott and I had started skating together around Spring, 1976 and heard about Apple soon after it opened. By the time we made it there for the first time, I was on a Sims Lonnie Toft. The first look blew us away. We had both skated small parks like Tomoka Moon Forest Skatepark and Skateboard City in Port Orange, Florida while on vacation, but nothing could have prepared us for Apple.
My most vivid memories are grinding the halfpipe and laying down some slides in the smaller bowls. One time at Apple, I lost my mind and rented rollerskates for an hour or so—bad move. I spent the rest of the day unable to walk after a tailbone fall. Every time I drive through Columbus, I look over where Apple used to be and remember the day. Skating vert again after a twenty-year layoff. Thanks for the Apple site!—Rob Degenhart, Time Warner Telecom, Dayton, Ohio, 6-3-02
I wish all the time that I had been skateboarding when it was fresh and clean. I think what I mean by "fresh and clean" is that, well, I'm still tryng to figure that out. See, it seems things were different then and I can feel it, but I can see that others dont. Maybe I will leave it at that?—Jonathan Davis, Cincinnati, Ohio, 5-30-02
Garry—I sent color copies of my ID card, some pics and all my helmet stubs. Hope you are still skating. I skated with Ridge and Witty last year at the Vans parks out there. Thanks for doing Skate Fate back when things got lean.—Cliny, 5-30-02
I have my ID card and all the stubs they taped to my Flyaway. I'll come up with something for the site. I sent all my good pics to you, Ridge, Pribble, Squid and lots of other rag authors [back in the '80s]. I have been skating Louisville, Skatopia, and Falcon lately. Good site! Glad you stepped up and did it.—Tim Cline, 5-27-02
Garry—You asked for more Apple pics, so I scanned thirteen that might be useful to you. They were all taken with an old Kodak 126 Instamatic camera. The quality was about normal for indoor skate photos. I'll send them to you three per email so the file sizes won't be too big. Hope you can use some of them. It's cool you're taking the time to help us remember how fun it was at Apple.—Dennis Blevins, 5-17-02
Apple absolutely rocked! I have nothing but fond memories of skating there. The pools were perfect and the L-bowl was as much fun as anything I have ridden since! Used to hook up with the Toledo "posse" Jay Brentlinger (he ripped that park, worked and lived there) Erik Lutz, Brian Mank, the Bryan Bros and the rest of the cast. I remember one night at the Red Roof Inn with us and Dave Bush, Charley and the rest of the Apple locals having a massive party and destroying the room then sessioning all day the next day as if it were nothing. Snub-nose boards were the rage and just thinking of the dreaded Copers makes me cringe.
Looking at this site has made me realize the greatest people I've known have been through skating! I still skate weekly (on a ramp in a warehouse), there's great bowls in Florida now as well. I owned a skateboard company in Maine a few years back called Who Skates. I see Brentlinger daily, and even though we are getting old, we skate as often as possible. Lets face it: there isn't anything better! I say we rebuild that park—any takers? Whenever I go to Columbus, I drive by the site—hoping for a time warp, I guess. Anyways, great site! Great memories! Great friends! Keep it up! I'm thinking about a reunion (scary).—Chris Conway, Wellington Florida , 5-16-02
Garry—I never got the chance to go to Apple—we were on our way and found out it was closed! Did I miss something? No D.O. Bank pictures—I took some of Britt Parrott, Joe Bowers and Jinx on a trip back from Mike Hill's house. If you need them, let me know. Can you help me with Britt Parrott and Mike Hill's e-mail addresses? Thanx—Lyle Donoho, 5-9-02
I'm glad I found the site—brings back great moments, but there is so much left out. I was a reg there everyday. I saw it all—from Bert Lamar to the end—the locals and all. This thing on Rob Roskopp: wow, he would show-up on the weekends. Wayne Lyons: good skater, but thats it. Chris Phillips: I kicked his butt in every contest— frontside invert my ass. Kenny Mollica should have been pro, he did rip—a good guy, as well. I should know—we took car pools together every day. Ron Dudley was a good man, so was Kevin Tate. Dave Bush—a total wannabe Duane Peters. I love Apple—always will. It was a home away from home.
By the way, I dont think Rob ever won a contest, ever. He rode his bike damn well. I worked every day to win every contest. I'm amazed that the guy that won the most contests was me, Casey Marzetti. Sims carried me and Kenny. Personally, Ron told me the place was going to close. I was bummed towards the end and did not want to show-up when they damaged it. I have pics. Apple was the best park. I moved to Maui in the early-'80s. In 1998, I built the Lahaina spine skatepark for free—killer spine, fifty-feet long, eight feet deep, dropped to six feet. Call for the real deal.—Casey Marzetti, 5-2-02
Hey—Nice job on your Apple Skatepark tribute site. I was only twelve or thirteen (and never a very good skater) when I skated there, but I knew it was something special. Every time I drive by that UPS depot, I think about what's buried below. I don't think any of the skaters today know it ever existed. Anyhow, the only pros I saw there were Dave Andrecht and the Variflex Team (mainly Eric Grisham). Unfortunately, I don't have any photos. The only thing I've got is my old Apple T-shirt. I do know one person who may have some photos and I'll let you know. Thanks for your efforts, they are appreciated.—Kevin Looker, 4-30-02
Hi—I was pleasantly surprised to see Apple on the web! You did a very nice job with it. I was there from the beginning when we dug out the pools, and later I worked as the pro-shop manager and skate-instructor. I really loved that place and have many great memories. I never knew Kevin Tate, as he was there after I left. Geno Goldberg was great. Ron Dudley had some problems. Most of the local guys that I skated with were on our Le Sport Skateboard Team in the mid-'70s doing slalom and flatland freestyle: Kenny Monica, Mike Ohm and others. I enjoyed skating the L-bowl all night long with Steve Olson, David Andrecht, etc. I remember struggling to emulate the Powell team because they made things look so smooth and effortless. The halfpipe used to annoy me because there was no flat-bottom and it was only twenty-two feet in diameter.
They had to dynamite the two-thirds extension when the park closed because Blaze Nessor and I accidentally hit the wooden concrete forms (making them thicker) before the concrete was shot into them. It was an exhilarating time in my life. When Peter Drotlef and Wally Hollyday were instructing the back-hoe operator on how to carve the transition, I thought that there wasn't enough transition. To this day, I still feel that more transition was needed—especially in the deep-end of the kidney.
Do you know if T-Bone (Ted Terrebonne) has any old negatives I can buy? If you want to do a "Where Are They Now" on me, I am an I.T. manager at a college. I still skate quite a bit—mostly old-school flatland freestyle and carving. I'm helping the city build a skate park in Westerville. My son is ten years old and he is going to be a very rad skateboarder. I did a handstand down the street a couple of years ago and a father and son on bikes rode by. The son said, "Look Dad, even OLD people ride skateboards!" Rock on. Thanks very much.—Jeff Kasson, Westerville, Ohio, 4-30-02
Garry—I was a member of the park, had a shirt and sold it, still have my park ID. I am so young in the pic and have hair! It was a fun park and I was sad to see it go. Sorry, no pics.—Doug Hines, 4-12-02
GSD—Shawn Snow (Endless Summer Skater) here! I just got off the phone with Bill Danforth and he told me about the site! LOOKS GREAT! Glad to see something so cool—as well as all of the memories that it brought back. I hit Apple about half a dozen times and I was always blown away! Not sure if I have anything left from Apple? If I find something, I'll scan it and send it your way! You did a great job, and thanks for bringing back the cool memories!—Shawn Snow, 4-7-02
Garry—Let me watch the video again to write down the parks and the order they're in. I think there are six or seven parks on it. The girl rollerskater on the Get-A-Way section, Deloris McCoy, taught me to rollerskate vertical. I eat lunch with her once a month. She and I haven't skated together since Get-A-Way. It was twenty summers ago (it closed in the fall of 1982). Huntsville is scheduled for new vertical concrete and ramps this summer. She and I can't wait. It's the twenty-year cycle. I'm leaving to see my grandmother in Tennessee tomorrow for two weeks. I'll return, copy the tape and get it off to you. Oh yeah, Bill Danforth mentioned Apple a lot.—Eric Felts, 4-2-02
Hey, how are things in your world? I was glad to see more interviews—too cool, keep up the good work. Whatever happened to Kenny Mollica? Knowing his family, he's working as a CEO for some Fortune 500 company. Shit, I gotta go test fly a Beech Bananza for a customer—talk about getting big airs....Be in touch. —Pete Kunz, 3-21-02
Garry—Nice site! I love it and will link it from my site soon, if that's cool. Check out my site skatealabama.com—which includes all of Alabama, but has become a haven for Get-A-Way stuff. Add me to your links if you get a chance. Thanks.—Wyatt (aka Wighat), 3-21-02
Great site. Like Cherry Hill and Marina, I never got the chance to skate Apple, and I've been waiting to see these photos. I hope theres more on the way. Hopefully, we will see more skatepark sites popping up. Good job.—Bonnyandcurtis@aol.com, 3-20-02
Hello—I Just checked out the Apple site—nice work. It's really cool seeing some of the history of Ohio skateboarding. More skating went down here than most people my age (twenty-eight) and younger realise! I started skating in 1987 when I was twelve years old. I remember all the pros on the Apple site—including yourself— from the mags, and I actually skate with Brett Martin on a regular basis. He's still a ripper and a very cool individual. I live in Middletown, Ohio, but we drive all over the place for anything bigger than four feet deep to skate. I have a backyard halfpipe—eight feet tall, nine-foot tranny. It's fun. It will be ready to skate again soon. If anyone wants to check it out, email me at jondproctor@hotmail.com. Ohio still kicks ass.—Jon Proctor, Middletown, Ohio, 3-14-02
Garry—Mark Noland here, and the Apple Skatepark site is great. I grew up skating in Atlanta, Georgia with the Ramp Ranch crew. You might remember some of us. Today, I skate with Brett Martin and some other old folks here in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have skated the Clifton Ramp with your cousin, Jon. He's a pretty cool kid.
I skated Apple five, six or more times—hard to remember. I still have my park pass. Apple was a really good time. I have one picture of a frontside air out of the two-thirds pipe—maybe I'll get a copy and send it to you. If you're ever in Cincy, look us up and skate with us. We have a fun crew to skate with (Buckeye Skateboards). Keep up the good work on the site. Brett and I thought that an old-school East Coast reunion would be fun, but hard to organize. Forty-one and still havin' fun. Later.—MNo, 3-11-02
Wow, talk about alot of memories. Apple was a big part of my life. I was there from the start: the city council meeting to deliver a petition to to OK the permits for constuction, the breaking up of concrete to dig the bowls, shoveling shit for Wally Hollyday and Peter Drotlef in the holes. We were known as Pickmaster & The Shovels. Eric Melfi, Keith Eastmead, myself, Jeff Kasson and Ronn Dudley all worked that summer as part of the construction team. Seeing all the bowls filled with water while the concrete cured was so cool. We dove off the two-thirds pipe into the water while the manager, Michael Musgrave, fed us pizza and Jack Daniels. We pumped the keyhole down first. I don't remember who skated it first, but it was not dry yet. We all had to learn how to skate pools and carve vert. It didnt take long. We skated 'til dawn—a true dream come true. As each pool drained, the anticipation would build. We were all freaking.
Jeff, Dudley and I got hired to work at the park when it finally opened. We were the skate patrol and worked in the pro shop. Gene's daughter, Karen, might have worked the counter on weekend nights, but it was mostly Mike, his sister-in-law Barb and us. The first punk at Apple was Geoff Hazelton. He showed up with a nasty, ripped-up Sex Pistols T-shirt on and saftypins everywhere. He drove a cool 1963 red VW bug. Nobody new what to make of him. He and I became best of freinds and future bandmates with Dave Bush, who at the time was still afraid of heights and never left the L-bowl. There are many Apple stories to be told, like the time Melfi rode his sister's moped in the egg pool before the concrete was poured, carving the lip in the deep end. I am now sitting in my hangar at Ft. Lauderdale Airport and I need to finish cleaning it—gets messy sometimes. I'm going to skate Olsener Skatepark tonight. There are two nice pools there. Keeping the world on guard.—Pete Kunz, 3-9-02
If I can dig up any good photos, I will email them to you. I am glad to hear about people with good memories of Apple. I know my memories of Apple will last forever. Later.—Batmite, Knoxville, Tennesee, 3-8-02
That site is insane...keep me updated.—Buddy Carr, Oceanside, California, 3-8-02
You better leave it on! I love it! Please leave the captions and credits as is, I think it is classic—and in all honesty, I'm not real fond of the bike and blade crowd, anyway! I was laughing so much yesterday, I almost snorted coffee out the nose! I appreciate you taking the time to put this site together, so I think you have the artistic license to do as you please. Ridge gets full credit for the photos, so no worries. By the way, I love the casual photo of him on his front porch! Tell him to let you borrow the CD I sent with pics from the West Virginia days, otherwise I can send you one. I too am annoyed that there are not more pictures of Apple, and I hope your site will spur some people to search the drawers and such for pictures and other stuff.
Please send me an Apple questionnaire and I will give you my thoughts on the place. I have wanted to write some stuff on events in life that meant a lot to me, and this is a great chance to get started. Once again, thanks for making the effort to get Apple into the minds of those who experienced it, and hopefully we can get a session together sometime, somewhere. I hope to make a trip to see Ridge again this year, so maybe we can get together. I went back to the Apple site yesterday and read more of the interviews. This is really cool, and I will spread the word up here about it. I plan on showing the site to friends at work today, so it will be great to say "Hey look, that's me!" Stay cool, man!—A.B.M.X.R. (Witty), 3-8-02
Hey Garry—I met you at OSSJII with Brian Ridgeway. I'm Witty, "The annoying BMXer!". I called Ridge this morning to talk about your site, and as I was clicking on the links, I saw myself in the L-bowl on my bike with the aforementioned caption. Classic! Thanks for not slamming me on the egg bowl pictures, as that is me riding with Ridge trailing behind. Glad you put the pictures on your site—I think it is great. The site looks wonderful, and I hope you get a lot more stuff for it. I have some stories I will jot down and send to ya. Nothing earth shattering—just good memories on some good times. The only thing that sucks is that I have zero pictures of me SKATING at Apple! I really did skate the place!—Witty, WV Bones Brigade, 3-7-02
GSD—Good to hear from you. Fuck Pepsi. Apple site looks great. I went to Apple a lot. Kevin Tate used to manage a park here [Michigan] before Apple and was always super-cool to us when we went. I have lots of Apple stuff: mint condition hat, keychain, a screwed-up iron on, plus a baseball jersey with the iron-on on it. I also have the brochure that shows the layout of the park. Remember the portable halfpipe they had? After Apple closed, we got it at Endless Summer, then Fergusson got it after Endless closed. I'll try to dig up my Apple stuff—and some old Skatin' News with Apple in it—scan it, and send it to you. Hope to see you soon —probably in September I'll be out. I started a new company called Bad Apple, just decks and shirts—no big blown corporate deal. Fuck that—just true skateboarding and fun. I've also got wheels out now on Nicotine. Keep in touch.—Bill Danforth, 3-6-02
The site looks good to me on my PC. I would think Bill Danforth has been to Apple. I also just talked with Brian "Batmite" Beuchene from Knoxville Tennesee, and he had been there a few times. I would have had great stories about Apple, but I moved to Cincinnati in '79. I had heard of Apple, but I wasn't able to talk my parents into driving me. I grew up on the parks in the Washinton DC area, so I know the whole park feeling. I blew it a few more times: Rob Roskopp and I rode the same bus to school and I didn't know he skated until one day he brought a slalom board to school. Anyway, Columbus has three concrete parks now, though definitely not even a shadow of what Columbus was before. Later.—Dan Rea, 3-5-02
Garry—Site looks great and, wow!, am I ever sad I missed that one! It was definitely not the park of my memories. I wonder if the UPS place would mind if we dug them up? Would the place even be alive under all that concrete and dirt? What a sad thing to think about. Talk to you later. Oh yeah, our boards are almost on the market! Go Ohio!—Jay Brundege, 3-4-02
Just seeing the Apple logo made my hair stand on end. Best skatepark I have ever been to. Later.—Brian "Batmite" Beauchene, Knoxville, Tennesee, 3-4-02
Hey Garry—Just checked out the Apple site. Great job. I skated with The Ridge yesterday at a park out here in Newberg, Oregon. It's the best park I've ever skated, but I never made it to Apple. Oregon is skatepark heaven and they're all free! Never thought I'd see the day.
Hey, I'm going back to Tennesee soon to get all my zines. I'm thinking about converting them to PDFs and starting an on-line zine archive. Interested? Also, I'm hoping to get a MESS site up in time for the 20 Year Anniversary (2003). And, of course, it'll be an honor to follow Sarge in the Guestbook.—Britt Parrott, Oregon, 3-4-02
Well, I was gonna sign the Guestbook until I found it was just a tricky way for you to get more email :-) The site looks awesome. You have some totally cool ideas. I always wondered why Skate Fate had so many discussions of Apple Skatepark. Now I know: it's always been your secret happy place. I imagine that's where Gomez and Kent Watson learned to shred. Was The Visitor ever there? One suggestion on the Published Citations page: I know you're a fan of this confused blending of words and images, but you might consider putting a marker at the start of each new citation 'cause it took me a bit to catch on—but then, I'm kinda slow sometimes.—Donna Sisson, Yosemite, California, 3-3-02
GSD—I haven't forgotten about your Apple project, and still intend to write something up (if it is not too late), but have been so busy building my house and trying to do my regular job. I should have time next week, barring more last-minute decisions on my house and more Enron stench that is hanging very heavy in the air on Capitol Hill.—Bob Pribble, Washington DC, 3-1-02
Liked this—especially the line [about] concrete dishes. Let's get together and drink some dog blood.—Stacy Peralta, Los Angeles, California, 3-1-02
Memories are faint, but I do recall a skatepark like that! Was it called "Orange" or "Pear"?—Steve Caballero, 3-1-02
Garry—A local guy here said he bumped into Pete Kunz, an ex-Apple employee who claims he has the origninal blueprints to the park. I've told the guy to let you know—it would be great to have the blueprints on your site.—Mike Hill, Dayton, Ohio, 3-1-02
GSD—Ohmygosh! I just looked at the whole Apple site. I started about two hours ago and couldn't quit. I'm done now, but I'm looking forward to more photos, more stories and more updates. I was just getting into skating around the time Apple ceased and desisted, so all the stories of the pros and the locals are comfortably familiar to me. Those were the guys who were holding things down when we started obsessing with skateboarding here in the heartland.
Just skated a Wally Hollyday park out in Fontana, California. The proverbial "they" emptied the sand out for one quick session and then filled it back up again until the park is officially opened sometime in March or April. Now I kind of know what people were talking about when they raved about Apple's surface. Undeniably fast and smooth—but with an uncharacteristic grip. Heavenly. Grosso, Salba, Dave Ruel, Omar Hassan, Jake Phelps, Dave Swift, Jake Piasecki, Rune Glifberg, Maddog, Ped, Eric Sentienen and a bunch of others were in attendance.
Talked to Bill Bored (Lincoln skater) and he said Donna Sisson's been in touch with him about the slide show (with Apple images in it) you remember seeing at a party out here back in the day. Brian Kelly, Daniel Kelly, Scott Bowens and possibly Rob Falos were the only Nebraska guys who visited Apple and the pics you saw were Brian's. Daniel and Bill are going to try to locate them soon. Anyhow, nice work. Looking forward to more.—Kevin Wilkins, Lincoln, Nebraska, 3-1-02
Garry—That is well-written and brings back the memories for sure of Apple. I loved that place—it totally changed the way I looked at skateboarding forever. I actually remember the smell of the pro-shop—like grip-tape mixed with sweaty pads. I am getting your items together soon. Hope all is well. It was good seeing you after all these years.—Chris Carter, Dayton, Ohio, 3-1-02
Note: The following emails were received before this site was launched.
Garry—I have been hoping to hear from you in regards to Apple. I have my membership card, a T-shirt and about twelve or so photos of the place. I am really busy right now, but I will answer all your questions in detail. Mike told me about what you were doing and I am really stoked. My pics were all shot in 110 film. I have prints and the negs might be at my mom's house, but I won't guarantee it. I am excited about your Apple Site—I will contribute!—Chris Carter, Dayton, Ohio, 1-23-02
Hey Garry—This is Jay, I built Mark Waters' ramp. I have a board company coming out this year and one of the ideas I had for some graphics was a tribute to Apple Skatepark. Seeing how I am from Ohio and a lifetime skater, it only made sense to include the Apple Skatepark logo in my line. I was planning on doing an Apple board as well as a Dodge board, most likely ripping off the logos of their famous counterparts—Dodge Trucks and Apple Computers—to go with them. I don't think very many people would get what I am trying to say with the logos and stuff, but those who do get it are my target anyway. I have a scanned image of an old Apple membership card, but the Apple logo is kind of beat-up and has that little dreaded hole they punched in them. Any help in getting a nice shot of the logo would be appreciated. Anyway, the company is called "fROMOHIO" and, yes, it is a take-off of one of my all-time favorite bands in its many forms—fIREHOSE. Any help is greatly appreciated, and I'll hook you up with a deck when we get them printed since you seem so devoted to Apple. Later, skater.—Jay Brundege, 1-22-02
I rode Apple a number of times. It was a three-hour drive from Indiana—no-place for my parents and the parents of my two skate rat buddies, Steve Schick and Chip Jones. The park was an absolute dream, built by Wally Hollyday and Duane Bigelow. Kevin Tate, the guy who managed the park when I went, absolutely ripped. My fondest memory of that place is riding the halfpipe with this first-generation hippie, who was catching some nice air. He talked me into trying to really "go for it" on my first hit after rolling into the entrance. Donned in a Jay Adams Flyaway helmet and riding a Powell Alan Gelfand "Tank" board, I was catching one or two feet of backside air, grabbing behind my foot. My dad took a great shot of me on slide film that day doing such a backside air. I've never had that slide printed.
Later that day, that damned hippie tricked me into thinking I would catch more air if I tapped my tail while coming off the lip. That bad advice led to one helluva Mr. Wilson—a term my friends and I borrowed from a Duane Peters Action Now interview to describe taking a nasty fall. Those who rode with me later in life at countless other places know that my airs never got much higher from that day on—although I did start grabbing in front of my foot.—Bob Pribble, 1-17-02