| Friday, August 3rd Have you ever met the mayor of a small town in the United States … I never had, but day three of our trip was an adventure with that as our destiny. Our first hint was the night before when we met the Jefferson’s. They mentioned that members of Diamond City were working with the mayor of the city to get a skatepark set up in their city. I thought, that would be sweet to meet the mayor and members of the city to learn about their efforts to open a park. The next day, the Diamond City adventure began. At around 11:45 am CST it was off to the city’s diner – The Cove.  In about two steps into the restaurant, it was pretty clear from people’s looks that we stood out. I think we were eyed as out-of-towners right away – we were stoked. We sat down at a booth and were greeted by our friendly waitress Kim. We got some burgers and I tried this really good drink that I’ve never had before. It’s called Sweet Tea, and if you ever get a chance to try some, I say go for it. Mid way through our meal, some skaters walked into the diner and were kick’n it with the locals. As they strolled out, I went over and started chatting it up. They were a few of the local skaters – Bourdeax, Jo Jo, and David.  After our meal, we met up with Jo Jo and David at the local campground. David’s the VP on the skateboard committee. Josh, another member of their crew, arrived as we were departing. He designed the logo of their skate shirts. The shirts looked sweet and we all wanted one. The guys told us we could pick one up at their local pizza parlor. Off we were to the pizza parlor.
The pizza parlor is this cool little shop at the edge of town off of Grand Ave. We strolled in and right up to the shop’s counter to get some refreshing drinks and some shirts. The town’s chatter was circling around a little table in the middle of the shop where all the locals were spreading the news of the day. Our cashier friend took my vanilla shake order and her curiosity perked up as I asked about the skate shirts. I think she could tell we were from out of town and for us to ask about their skate shirts, now that was really interesting. She immediately started fulfilling her curiosity by asking questions about where we are from and what we’re doing. The more I told her about our journey, the more excited she got. Soon she started calling out across the small shop for her friend Ethel … “Ethel, you got to come over here. Ethel, you there?” she called out. Ethel, came on over and with a bright smile, and we started chatting it up. Ethel and the cashier started calling up a bunch of people in the town. Before long, the mayor of Diamond City, Don West, came into the shop. The mayor of Diamond City was here to meet US! What was a thought yesterday was a reality today.  Don took us over the proposed spot for the skatepark. We had a good conversation about how the town perceives skateboarding, the challenges and the hopes. This town has a great vibe about building and supporting the local skate culture. Keep it up Diamond City, with your persistence you’ll get there. What an experience for all the skaters involved. Learning how to bring this idea to reality will be an awesome experience and will positively influence these kids for the rest of their lives. I wish the best for all you in Diamond City, you all got a great thing going for you! Till later, Mark |