One morning in Maine
Growing up in New England, one of my favorite children's books was a little story called "One Morning In Maine". Not long ago I woke up one morning in Maine-- and it was nothing like the book whatsoever.
I had just flown in the night before from a contest in Austria. There was a steady drizzle outside as I met Buster Halterman and Paul Zitzer in the lobby of the hotel. We were supposed to do a demo at the grand opening of the new skatepark in Camden, affectionately dubbed by the local skaters as "The Blue Tile Lounge".
We were invited to breakfast with some of the kids and parents who made up the skatepark committee. I found out that Sam, a sixteen-year-old who was the most instrumental in getting the park built, liked to juggle. So, after breakfast we put on a little juggling show passing apples across the living room. I then found out that Sam is a much better juggler than I am. By then, the rain had stopped so we headed over to the park. Sam drove me there in his bright yellow Porsche 911.

I don't usually show up to demos in a Porsche, but this, as it turned out, was no ordinary demo. The town of Camden has a population of about five thousand. There were about fifteen hundred of them waiting for us at the park when we arrived. There was a huge tent set up with everything from a popcorn stand and an ice cream truck, to a live swing band and full catering featuring "Kick Flip Burgers" and "Gnarly Baked Beans".
The park looks like something you might see on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. A babbling brook and a waterfall separate it from a huge old Victorian house, and the entire park is surrounded by a white picket fence.The ramps are pristine and surfaced with skate-lite.

The street course was too wet to skate, so Paul and I started a session on the mini. The clouds hung ominously throughout the demo, but the rain held off.

We signed autographs for an hour and a half, and just as the last few people came through the line, it started to rain. It was perfect.

Paul, Buster and I left wondering, why can't all demos be like that?