The fundraiser is being led, from left, by Kaitlin Lewis and Dennis Smith, of Seaside Surf Shop, and Kyan Harper, a senior at Seaside High School.

The upcoming Free Fallin’ SK8 & Shred event will be an afternoon of entertainment, competition and celebration. The event will also help raise funds for maintenance at a skating facility at Broadway Park and the pump track at Cartwright Park.

The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Seaside skate park on Broadway. Event registration is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon.

The competition is open to all ages and skill levels, though it will be divided into specific age groups for children and teenagers. Riders will have a run, where basic skills will be required. A second run will be freestyle.

Tom “Wally” Inouye, a professional skateboarder from the Northwest, will be the head judge on a panel that also includes Mike Estes, a figure in snowboarding who also skates and mountain bikes. “Danger” Ehren McGhehey, a former professional snowboarder, is emceeing.

The fundraiser, supported by the city of Seaside’s Parks Advisory Committee and the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, will also include music, food and retail vendors, prizes and a raffle drawing.

“Anybody is welcome, even if they don’t skate,” said Kaitlin Lewis, an event organizer. “It’s going to be a fun event with entertaining people.”

Organizing the event alongside Lewis are Dennis Smith, of Seaside Surf Shop, and Mary Blake, a member of the Seaside Parks Advisory Committee. About a month ago, they formed a subcommittee to focus on the stewardship and care of Seaside’s skating facilities and to look toward expansion.

Kyan Harper, a senior at Seaside High School, is also part of the team. He is helping to put on the fundraiser as part of his Pacifica Project, a community service project and a graduation requirement.

As a local, Lewis said, it’s been positive for Harper to be involved in a leadership role and “setting a good example for the next generation to come, of … ‘if you want something done in the community, it’s going to take effort, but you just have to go make your voice heard.’”

“He’s a good kid to lead that charge and set that example,” Lewis added. Having youth involvement is an important part of the subcommittee’s long-term vision for this initiative.

Smith would like to see the role handed down from year to year to a senior for their Pacifica Project. For now, the group is focused on taking care of the facilities that already exist in the community.

Both the Broadway skate park and pump track at Cartwright Park are facing decay from lack of maintenance. There is no dedicated city fund to care for these facilities, and the coastal weather has taken its toll over the years.

“We hear on a daily basis from all the skaters about the deteriorating condition of the park,” Smith said. “It’s running really rough, really slow.”

A tribute

The group hopes the city will include a new skate park in their master plan for the North 40, which refers to an 8-acre area near the former Seaside High School campus that the city has set aside for recreation space.

“We’d really like to see a park where parents can take their younger, smaller kids,” Smith said, adding that a skate park like this would be mellower and more user-friendly.

The subcommittee’s vision also involves the memory of Peter Shae, a Gerhart resident and beloved member of the local surfing and skating community who passed away in a surfing accident in May.

Shae was known affectionally as the “gromfather,” as he would take local youth out surfing and skating along with his own children, according to Smith and Lewis.

“As this Pacifica Project gets handed down, hopefully by the time it’s done, it will be handed off to Pete Shae’s kids, and we’ll hopefully have (the new) park memorialized in Pete’s name,” Smith said, adding this first fundraising event “is kind of a kickoff to that.”

‘Individual expression’

Both Lewis and Smith have observed the powerful impact of board sports, in their lives as well as those of young people.

“Not all kids are cut out for team sports,” Smith said. “It’s individual expression. It’s healthy for kids.” Lewis noted the sense of community surrounding board sports, while also providing an opportunity for solo recreation.

“You can go by yourself, all you need is a board,” Lewis said. Although she also enjoyed playing team sports during high school and college, she said there’s something special about the meditative quality of being out in the water while surfing or skateboarding along a smooth surface. “You have to be so in the moment,” she said.

Maintaining well-run, high-quality facilities is also beneficial for tourism, Smith said, as families could plan vacations around different parks along the Oregon Coast.

“Bringing a new skate park, or even just maintaining our skate park, will help tourism,” Lewis said.