Tony Hawk Stand Up For Skateparks Event in Vegas Article at Skatepark of Tampa

Tony Hawk Stand Up For Skateparks Event in Vegas

Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2011 by Ryan

Photos by Jenna Clements and Ryan Clements
Words and Captions by Ryan Clements

First off, I have to apologize for being in so many of these damn pictures. I swear I try to make a conscious effort to not be in them, but once again it just ended up being that way.

The occasion: Stand Up For Skateparks benefitting the Tony Hawk Foundation.

The bottom line: The event raises awareness, and most importantly money through donations and auctions, for the building of skate parks in the areas that need them most. The Tony Hawk Foundation has monetarily contributed to nearly 500 skate parks. Talk about concrete evidence of effectiveness!

What I was doing there: Mainly announcing the vert demo, but my wife Jenna and I made the best of the opportunity to travel to Vegas and turned it into a vacation. I’ve been to Vegas many times, but it was my second opportunity to attend Stand Up For Skateparks. Check out what went down…

We got in late on Thursday night. Rob always takes this same exact photo in the Las Vegas airport just to prove that no one ever takes the stairs.
Not a bad way to start Friday morning. This was the view from the room at the Red Rock Resort.
Ryan Clements
Red Rock Canyon is awesome. My father’s ashes are spread here, so I paid him a visit and my respects.
Ryan Clements
We drove through the Canyon and as we kept getting higher in altitude, it got so cold that the drizzle turned to snow!
Kevin Staab
Time spent being tourists was over and it was time to begin attending the parties with none other than Kevin Staab.
Clive Dixon
Me and Birdhouse rider CJ, aka Clive, Dixon. He was like, “I don’t think I belong here.” Sure you do, CJ.
Me and legendary photographer and all-around nice guy, Grant Brittain.
The next morning I was creeping around the event site and found Birdhouse TM Jerome Case working on banner installation.
I heard that they were filming for some “cupcake wars” TV show during Stand Up For Skateparks.
Andy MacDonald
Andy MacDonald is always down for posing a layback smith on a Rampbed.
Famous people signing famous signatures during the VIP reception at the beginning of the event.
Would you be able to resist a photo with Carrot Top? I ran into him during the signing.
After viewing this photo I know that my wife Jenna was stalking Travis Pastrana.
Chad Cardoza’s Yo Gabba Gabba boards were seriously the talk of the day and raised over $2,000!
Rodney Mullen
Rodney Mullen is one of the coolest, most unique skateboarders out there. If you ever have the opportunity, be sure to say hi to him, along with vert shredder Elliot Sloan.
I got the opportunity to meet Ben Harper, who happens to be one of the coolest guys of all time...AND...he’s got a mini-ramp in his backyard!
Yes, there was actually skateboarding going down. The demo was actually really good and put a nice ending to a very feel-good day.
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Tony Hawk
I tried to auction Tony’s board off after the demo, but the legit auctioneer basically told me to beat it.
After the event there was a gathering in the Casino. I know him as the guy that used to announce ASR demos way back-in-the-day, but Sal Masekela is much better known for his current work on E!
We went from randomly hanging out in the bar at Red Rock to raging in a limo on the way to Hard Rock.
The time at Hard Rock is a blur and then we randomly ended up in some club called Haze, where Travis Barker was playing drums to a Waka Flocka song!
There wasn’t much I could do to fight the hangover on Sunday, so I embraced it and we had a few drinks at Hogs & Heifers Saloon before flying home to Tampa.

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