Day-By-Day At Woodward Skate Camp Part One

Posted on on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 by Ryan

June 10, 2003
Words By Ryan Clements & Photos By Big Dave

Day One

Woodward pride

This was basically the ‘day of driving,’ though I didn’t mind at all. Solitude is good for the psyche, especially if you’re around people as much as I am. I left my house at 5:40am and arrived at my aunt’s in Delaware at 9:45pm. I drove a total of 1007 miles in 16 hours, but I drive the speed limit and I only stopped twice. Not to mention, there’s a ton of construction on 95N. Time flew by as I listened to Bubba The Love Sponge cd’s, mixed in with a little Johnny Cash and Hot Water Music, and I had dinner waiting for me at Aunt Ro’s when I arrived.

Day Two

Oh man, the photos would be great, but I forgot to bust out the camera. I spent about half of the day answering email, and the other half working in Aunt Ro’s yard. See, my Aunt is 80 years old (although she acts like she’s 40), and her yard needed a little attention. I brought some of the leftover Clements Lawn Service equipment with me in the back of my truck and did her grounds proper! It looked so good that even the gay dudes across the street gave their approval. The evening was spent with my cousin, and godfather, Monte. We had a nice dinner and then went to a gentleman’s club...oh yeah.

Day Three

What's wrong with this picture?

Fat guy trick number one - pivot to fakie

The contestants

Clements' crew

Chillin' with the cool campers

Kevin Sullivan - 50/50

I left Aunt Ro’s and took a whole bunch of back roads to Woodward. It was raining the entire four-hour drive. I kept thinking, “It’s got to stop raining sooner or later,” but how wrong I was. I got there and had to run into the office to sign in because it was really coming down at that point. The worst part is that it was cold as hell, too! What was going on? I would have gladly traded 85-degree Florida weather and humidity to get the rain to cease...no luck.

Jeremy Knibbs - backside 360

The kids in the back are wondering, "Is this guy really pro?"

Grant Taylor - kickflip fs grab bigger than you can air it

Visiting pros Trevor Ward and Scotty Conley

     Once I got all taken care of at the front office, I got settled in my room, and then took my time walking around from building to building. I checked out some of the new stuff, but ended up in Bud’s Barn, playing pool with Trevor Ward and Scotty Conley. The rain was certainly putting a damper on the excitement. Anthony Furlong and Big Dave arrived from doing laundry, dinnertime came and we chowed on the usual Woodward grub. I opted for the salad bar...can’t go wrong with some veggies.

     At 6pm, there was the weekly pro/camper skate jam in Lot 8. It’s where each visiting pro has a group of three or four campers and each ‘team’ gets three minutes to skate. My team ruled! I had Kevin Sullivan, Jeremy Knibbs, Grant Taylor, and a couple of other little guys. Jeremy and Grant absolutely killed it...I didn’t have to do anything (not that I could realistically competed anyway). Mark my words right now...Grant Taylor is the next Tony Hawk. To make a long contest story short, Grant’s head-high stalefishes over a 10 ft. gap weren’t good enough. We didn’t win. First place went to Pat Chanita and his crew of beginners. No hard feelings, guys...

     By the time we got out of Lot 8, it was nearly 10pm and everyone was talking about going out. Well, going ‘out’ for me meant going to sleep. I watched Big Dave and Channita shoot some pool and then it was off to beddy-bye for ol’ Clements.