Ark City Rec Center Approves Loan To Wheels United

This morning the Ark City Recreation board met and discussed the lease agreement that would grant the Wheels United group the $65,000 needed to build the skate park proposed in an earlier blog. President Zach Bryant and Secretary Nici Nelson spoke on behalf of the skaters. Nici showed the Rec Board that skating is not only here to stay but also the third most popular sport in the United States right now. Zach fielded questions pertaining to funding showing that there is not only many fund raising options right now in the community but once a park is built even more will come fourth. This still doesn't ensure a park being built but it does allow for the club to take it before the city at their June meeting. Expectations are that the city will approve the building of the skate park enabling the ground breaking to begin. Now it is the job of the skate board, the skaters and the community to rally together and raise the money to pay back the loan in order to begin dreams of expansion. Thank you to all the members of the Recreation Board for hearing our case and realizing that as kids change so to do sports.

Short Weekend Skate Tour

Dylan transfers from the table to the ramp.

Lucas with a huge caveman.

Trevor nailing some major rotation.

Rebekah eating healthy as she skates.

Preston hits tricks with a burger in hand.


This weekend we had to run short on our skate trip. We had food donated to us from Nici Nelson so we were able to picnic as we skated. There were lots of kids at the park in Winfield on Sunday but we were able to get along with most of them. A small group tried to start trouble but we walked away from it with no problems. The police did come down for a minute but apologized for the local ruffians and were impressed by our kids skating skills. Fun was had by all and we hope to have a longer journey this weekend.

Yet Another Non-skate Activity

Mick in the sound booth.

Chris of Slipknot.

Devil Driver.

We took Sunday off and headed to Wichita for the Slipknot All Hope Is Gone tour. Myself, Mick, Kaleb and Lucas rounded up the skate crew there. We all had a blast and a very memorable night. Once again music and skate boarding go hand in hand. You shred in both. Once Summer gets here we hope to once again get more of the skaters involved in these types of events.

Weekend Skate Tour (Now on Saturdays)

Trevor gets some big air.

Evan proving he's sick in a game of skate.

Michael from Spokes and Things gets in on the skate game.

Corbin tricks off the ramp.

LP with a nice flip trick.

Preston nailing a stall on the half pipe.

Lucas shreds the coping.



It was a little cloudy for our Saturday skate session but all in all it was a good day for it. The small crew seemed to help people stay focused on skating and a girls softball tournament provided food and drink for all the guys. I think we are going to change skate day to Saturday so that we will no longer interfere with church.

Weekend Skate Tour No More Rain

Trevor gets fancy with a flip trick as he clears the stack of boards.

Hayden airs out over a stack of boards in a game of How High.

Preston rolls in on the mini-pipe.

Dillon catches some major air off the stair set.

Lucas does a kick trick as he ollies off the four stair.

Rebekah nails a manual all the way across the pad.

Mick is still playing with ground tricks as he practices the pogo Rebekah taught him.

Evan kicks out with a brand new 5-0 that I've never seen before. He landed it on the first try.

TA finally nails the grind he has been trying for several weeks.

Finally the rain stops coming down and we were actually able to skate. It was a spur of the moment decision to go and we left later then usual but still ended up with a nice day of thrashing. A few locals in Ponca joined in with Wheels United for games of skate and how high. Our kids showed off some tricks they've known and nailed a few new ones throughout the day. As always fun was had by all. The Ponca parks equipment is made by American Ramp Company which also gave us an idea of what to look forward to.