Last fall, I began skating regularly with these guys that call themselves the Old Indy Skaters. It's a skateboard "club", not too unlike the old surf clubs (like Windansea, Palos Verdes, etc) that were popular back in the '50s and '60s (and many of which still endure, to this very day). The whole notion of the "skateboard club" isn't really so foreign, as we've had them in the skateboarding world, in one form or another, for decades. In the 1980's, we called them "teams"… as in, "Team Green", "Team Meanie Genie", and "Team Pierre". In the 1990's, and into the new millennium, they became "crews". So, this whole "social networking" thing has always been kicking around, but just under different names. The idea, though, is always the same: Getting together with the bros, skating hard, sharing a couple Cokes, maybe even having an impromptu bar-b-que, and just having a good time with all of it.
Here's last weeks' "group shot" out in Greencastle. Every week is different; next weeks' crew will probably be entirely different. Very few dudes make it every single week, just because of life constraints and stuff. But, there's always a good bunch of guys rerpresenting, no matter what.
The Ringleader
The Man With The Plan is a friendly chap named Bart. He's the guy that initially got in touch with me, and invited me into the group… the whole thing being a sort of invite-only, "secret society" of sorts. The OIS guys basically work on a "selective outreach" program, checking out old-school dudes as they run across them (usually, skating at the park), and giving them the lowdown sometime mid-session. How I got involved in this, is actually way beyond me. It never dawned on me to ask, actually. I was just plum happy that there were actually other old-school geezers [besides me] out there somewhere, that still skate.
The Ringleader, by the way, is a pretty motivated and energetic guy. It's not unusual at all to have to be up at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning… before the crack of dawn, even… to be on time for an 8-in-the-morning session. It's actually kinda grueling, especially after a hard week at work… but, it's also pretty damned motivating, and it makes a real man outta ya, really fast. Sure, everyone complains about the driving, and the waking up early. But, it's pretty rare for the guys to miss a session.
Here's the conscience of the group, Big Mike (and his son). Big Mike doesn't play around. His roots are deep, he's seen it all, and the dude can skate like a champ, too. That kid's got good genes, there.
The Traveling Man
Every week, the crew gets an e-mail, detailing where the next weeks' session is gonna be, what transpired at the previous weeks' session, and what "news" happened between the sessions. Many times, these sessions end up being pretty extensive road-tripping days out of town, where we'll end up many, many miles away from home virtually on a whim. This happened last fall to me: We were "supposed" to go skate Greencastle for the day (which is about 45 minutes from my house, anyway)… but, "somehow", we ended up all the way in Terre Haute, which is about an hour and a half from my house. It's very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, and making Saturday afternoon "plans" is an exercise in utter futility, because no matter what you do, you're probably gonna miss them, anyway.
Which just might be the point…
Who needs a skateshop, when you have a club…?!
Because a couple of our crew have industry "connections", we also enjoy a good measure of industry "support". For example: Everyone in the club gets a pretty steep discount on anything made by American Nomad, because one of the guys knows Jay Kelly. I can just as easily (and, oftentimes do) get the same deal from JJ at Funhouse, as JJ and I go way back. There's actually a whole lotta stuff that we "could" get deals on, and we might just start working those at some point. The key thing being, the "club" is a great way to save a few bucks, and try out new stuff that you might have never heard about… or, experienced… if it weren't for the crew always keeping you abreast of the latest and greatest. Indeed, I barely go to my local skate shop anymore. Why bother?! The Club is all that I'll ever need. And, it's also hella convenient, as I'm gonna see those dudes every week at the session, anyway. Might as well order up a deck (or, two) while I'm at it, right…?
Pride, man...
The Boss-As-Hell Club Tees
Being in a club has its perks. The club tees are probably my personal favorite. Very black, very "skull", and very, very badass. I ordered two, because one just wasn't gonna cut it. The tees help to support other "perks" like, the club hotline (317-Sk8-Spot, if you can believe that…!), the club website and forums (www.oldindyskaters.com), and the never ending supply of cold Cokes that Bart always has on his person, which basically makes him my favorite person ever.
Everybody's Welcome here...
All ages, all abilities, all genders, all backgrounds... there is no "in" crowd here, just as there is no "out" crowd, either. Generally speaking, you're more likely to be approached by Bart if you're:
- Old, or
- Rocking some sort of old-school getup (regardless of your personal age), or
- Doing some sort of old-school trickery, or
- You're just a mellow, friendly, cool cat.
Sometimes, we'll spot dudes at the skatepark, and we'll nudge Bart into making an introduction on behalf of us all. "Hey, there's another prospect for ya!" Bart usually follows through, and the club just keeps growing by leaps and bounds. Every session that I go to, there's always another new dude or two that wasn't at the last session. Which makes keeping tabs on everyone kinda difficult. But, it also makes each session that much more interesting, because you're never quite 100% sure who's gonna show up...
Tim's new flavor-of-the-week, a twenty-five-year-old relic in pristine condition. Only the Lord knows how he manages to track this stuff down, so consistently...
History Lives Here
It's not uncommon for one or two of the dudes to show up with some neat, "new" old skateboard. Don't even ask me how, or why, these guys manage to bloodhound down all of this cool new shit on such a regular basis, but they do it, and they're damned good at it, too. Just this week, Tim shows up with this pristine Dogtown Scott Oster right outta nowhere, and once again, I'm left scratching my head while Bart tells me how he nearly [but, not quite] swindled Tim out of it.
The Future
Oh, nobody probably knows much beyond the next session (Carmel, Saturday, April 3rd, 8:00 am... as usual...!). Everyone will probably keep on keepin' on. As for Bart, he's had requests from guys far and away, wondering how they can start their own clubs, too. Bart knows guys in Louisville, Cincinnati, California... the world's the limit, maybe. Whatever "the future" holds, it'll definitely revolve around skating, and it'll definitely be fun. See all y'all next week!
