A celebrity came to Greencastle, Ind. Sunday, and word of his arrival spread like wildfire.
At 11:27 a.m. on Sunday morning, professional skater Tony Hawk sent a message via Twitter, “Greencastle Skatepark (Indiana), 4pm-ish. That’s all I’m saying.”
Unannounced in any other capacity, this was indeed a surprise visit. Traveling on a tour through the Midwest, Hawk and his skating team, Birdhouse, stopped by Greencastle on their way to Cincinnati from Chicago. Hawk said this was a chance to see the skate park in Greencastle, which is funded by the Tony Hawk Foundation.
“We wanted to make a sort of unscheduled appearance at a skate park and hang out with the locals and do a surprise exhibition, and that’s what we did here,” Hawk said.
Hawk found the spontaneous visit worthwhile. He later posted another Twitter message: “Thanks Greencastle, most polite autograph line ever.”
Greencastle residents, DePauw students and skateboarding fans gathered at the skate park to watch Birdhouse skate and receive posters signed by Hawk. Sophomore Nick Barone, a frequent skater at the skate park, attended the event and had a chance to watch the Birdhouse team, a group he has idolized for a long time.
“It’s crazy for me because I’ve grown up seeing these guys in videos, and now they’re randomly at the Greencastle skate park,” Barone said. “It’s just unreal.”
Shawn Hale, a team member of Birdhouse, said the visit mainly consisted of filming video of the Birdhouse team skating. The video can be viewed at http://www.shredordie.com/video/birdhouse-midwest-tourchicago.
Hale first picked up a skateboard at the age of 13, when his sister gave one to him as a gift. Ever since, skating became the focus of his life.
“It was just all I started doing,” Hale said. “I pretty much just quit everything else and started doing it all the time.”
Hawk said the Tony Hawk Foundation funds skate parks like the one in Robe Ann Park in order to reach out to local youth.
“I’d like to think that it’s given a place for kids who are into these sports a sense of belonging and a place to hone their skills and to find their community,” Hawk said.
Hawk said the skate park in Greencastle is a good example as to how far skateboarding has come since he began skating.
“When I was growing up, there were only a handful of skate parks in the world, and now smaller towns are getting really quality facilities,” Hawk said. “The next pro-skater could come from a place like this.”