Killer shot of Jeff Roenning making those first ventures onto the invisible transition that lied above the coping. Piloting the original Vision Tom Groholski ‘Jersey Devil’ board as well. So many people road this board back in the day..everyone I went to High School with and Mike V for starters. Tom’s backyard ramp was the only ‘public’ skatepark in existence at the time when this board was out so it was like if you went to Graceland and Elvis gave you a TCB necklace…you wore it. There was no Euro or paypal back then Groholski decks were the preferred currency of choice. Before going to The Barn I road the magazine boards myself…First Steve Olsen then Tony Hawk for example but something changes when you see people like Murph, Tom, Tag, Herring,Bernie, Jay and John Ballon amongst others skate in person. Suddenly you want to ride the boards you see clanking the coping and flying past your chin while standing on the deck…it was no longer the California fantasy of the mags (I credit Jeff Turko for that phrase) which made one think if I had that I could do that…. it switches immediately after you see some one like Tom skate in person to ….if I ride that I have no excuse for not being able to do that other then my own abilities and ambitions. Seeing people ride the gear like that in person put the emphasis back onto the person where it belonged. Skating ability is so democratic if you were good the board just didnt matter..I once saw Bernie do his entire repertoire of tricks at Ocean City while riding some kids long board…wish I had a video camera that day…inverts to fakie on a 4 foot skateboard is a site to behold. Anyway were was I?…Oh yeah its a simple equation of this begets that.
When in person-Seeing this(photo by Dave Padulo):
Begets that:
Then when you actually Beget(Father) something it leads to bequeathing to them this via ebay(for their bedroom):
and the beat goes on…as long as this graphic doesn’t give your kids nightmares (let us know Dave)
This really should have been a Board Hall of Fame post… I will remedy that soon
Jason
PS. JR has re-discovered a box of old media so the Skate.Jpeg business is good!
I have never been to Kona in Florida, not even sure if it still exists. I first discovered its existence in 84 when I saw a picture of a young Stevie Cab winning a contest there. Truthfully the place always seemed mythic to me like Avalon, Valhalla, or Cherry Hill. Jeff made the journey at a young age and came home with this early morning picture.
The fish eye lense used in taking this photo makes the Barn look alot more spacious then it was..there was no Tardis effect in reality The Barn looked big from the outside and small on the inside. The Barn defied a lot of things but the physics of spatial relations was not one of them.
There is Weep peaking his head around Jeff’s shoulder on the deck. Anyone know who the third skater was?
Jeff Roenning was a big part of NJ skate, he had 5 or 6 backyard ramps under his belt throughout the 80’s and was responsible for alot of pro visits to the area including Roskopp and Chris Miller. JR has sent me a ton of great pictures a couple of which are categorized under Photos by Jeff Roenning which are worth a look and a lot of long overdue pics I promise to get resized and put into the archive. (I blame my lack of a decent Apple product for their delay)
Here is a pic that Jeff sent me ages ago of Kona from above, back in the day. I noticed today on Apples News page there is a slide show with images from present day Kona…This place really has evolved…
Kona Skatepark, located in Jacksonville, FL, was built 31 years ago and offers up two mind-boggling features. The first is the Snake Run, which drops 100 feet by the time you travel its 700 yards from top to bottom. Once you’re done riding out the long and winding run, you can check out the park’s other signature feature: the Tombstone. The Tombstone is a six-foot wall attached to a 12-foot deep bowl. Skaters from around the world have tried out tricks on this unique set up, including world famous pros like Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist. But Kona isn’t just for experts: the park offers free classes for beginners every Saturday morning.
Checkout the pics and vids of the current Kona: HERE LIQUID INSANE-O!!
Well by July 20th 2007 The House of Steam will be One Year Old!!
The archive currently has over 170 entries spread across 400 searchable categories.
In order to celebrate our accomplishment I have assembled a Year One Celebration video.
I would like to thank Sophie for all her help and support with the archive.
I would like to thank all the people I have been in contact with (especially via email) who have contributed photos, stories and most importanty time.
To me The House of Steam is an open ended community driven archive. What it does and where it goes is up to you so keep contributing. It is only a matter of time before The House of Steam becomes an important peice of skate history. It is not if it is when. I recall something sprayed on the outside wall of The Barn after it was all closed up, it said…The Time is Now.
so true.
thanks to the following:
Chris “Weep” Blank Rocky Vertone Dan Tag Bernie O’Dowd Tom Groholski Steve Herring Hr & Earl Hudson Mrs Kane Darren Menditto Dave Dalton Paul Wisniewski Phil Rouchard Micke Alba Rodney Smith Jeff Roenning Chris Miller Steve Mannion Irving Plaza Bucky Lasek Rick “Steamboat” Charnoski Captain John Ballon Dan Wilkes Jim Murphy Rob Mertz Ben Cornish King Diamond Greg Taylor Michael Pruskowski Brian “Kentucky” Boyd Buster Halterman Bryan Montez Kevin McDowall Jason Parkes Jimmy Kane Christian Hosoi Geoff Graham Jay Henry Jeremy Henderson Puppethead Sergie Ventura Dennis Kane Rob Randolph Kelly Ryan Barker Barret Dr. K Billy The Kid The Raging Lamos Neal Hendrix Bryan “Bouncing Souls” Kienlen
Hula Ken Sigafoos George Draguns W.H.R.H.S. Scott Foster Brent Jordon WIG Jake Egolf Colin Peckham John Egertson Koonzy!! Paul Frassenelli Derek Rinaldi Mike Vallely Steve Kasper Henry Gutierrez Skip Winter Sean Miller Pete Furnee Jt Murphy DWG Vert Facility Josh Marlowe Tom “The Rock” Boyle Jeremy Henderson Pep Williams Chuck Treece Matt Klein
johnny OneNote!
Eric Grisham Photographers
Ben Cornish Dan Wilkes Dennis Kane Derek Rinaldi Geoff Graham Jason oliva Jay Cabler Jeff Roenning Ken Salerno Kevin McDowall Steve Rosenberg WIG Rick Charnoski Bagel Cody Casserio Mike Mazur Mr. Groholski
The Raging Lamos If I missed you Im sorry…I’ll add you for sure!
Soooo. I hope you like the show! If you like the video please feel free to cut an paste it all over the inter-tubes…thats what its here for. Let em know where to find us.
I am going to take a week vacation…see you when I get back.
