Last week, three events brought people together at the Evanston Skate Park in Twiggs Park. It was arguably the most intense program since the grand opening on May 27 and demonstrated that the park is achieving its goal of becoming an inclusive community gathering place.
On Thursday evening, as the sun went down, the skate park was full with about 50 skaters for the Subscribe “Meetup in August.” All over the park, skaters of all levels stormed the ramps, met friends, and stopped by the skate group tables for free coaching, snacks, and giveaways.
“I definitely see some familiar faces from other froSkate events,” said Randi Rogers, who volunteered to help at a table with free snacks and froSkate merchandise. “But also a lot of new faces, and that’s what we always want to do: encourage new people to come along and meet some friends. Maybe just try it out with a group of people who look like you.”
Organizers, skaters and community members gathered around tables holding banners reading “All love, no hate, froSkate. Creating space for BIPOC femme, queer, trans and ENBY (non-binary) skaters since 2019.” The collective was founded in 2019 by Karlie Thornton and started as a group of friends who wanted to start a skate community.
Now froSkate has held over a hundred meetings and is celebrating the anniversary of a Nike deal for the exclusive “Dunk” shoe. This was the first time the organization hosted an event at the new Evanston Skate Park.
Bella (pronounced “bay-ya”) Garcia, a co-leader of Thursday’s event, said she joined froSkate in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests to get involved and create change in the community.
“It fits with my values and beliefs in politics and activism. But I’m doing it with skateboarding, and I think skateboarding needs that,” said Garcia, who reminded attendees in an announcement to make space for feminine and queer skaters in the park. “I think we need these meetings to make space for black and brown people, because that’s important. Black skaters matter.”
“A lot of the kids I teach come from all over, all different types of kids. I’ve even had kids who identify as ‘they/them,’ and I have black and brown skaters,” Garcia said. “So I want to teach them everything I learned at froSkate, as a skate instructor at Little Rippers. And I want them to feel safe and comfortable and confident.”
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Sam Chuprevich, a skating coach for Thursday’s event, does a frontside 180 up the ramp and over the Mini FroSkate railing. Credit: Benjamin Cummings -
Bella Garcia (left) and L Brew (right) announce the start of the event. Credit: Benjamin Cummings -
Bella Garcia does a “rock-to-fakie” by rolling an axle over the coping to bring it to a momentary stop before rolling back into the transition in the shallow end of the bowl while wearing froSkate’s signature shoes. Credit: Benjamin Cummings
An important aspect of the froSkate events is education. Trainers in yellow vests are on site, offering demonstrations and lessons and having a conversation partner in the park.
Three consecutive events
Thursday’s meetup was one of three back-to-back events held at Evanston Skate Park last week. The day before was Wilson Wednesday and Friday was Queer Skate Chicago’s Queer Skate Meetup.
Wilson Wednesdays is a weekly Wednesday event organized by Wilson Locals, a Chicago-area skateboarding group (@wilsonlocals on social media), in partnership with Sapient Skateboards and Vienna Beef.
Will Stephan, the owner of Sapient Skateboardshelped launch Wilson Wednesdays in 2021 as a meeting place at Wilson Skate Park in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, where the next event will take place on Wednesday.
“Free dogs, free drinks, hanging out, music. Bring everyone together and just try to put on an event that’s consistent, that people can count on and know they’re going to have fun — there’s not much to it,” said Stephan, who attended Wednesday night’s barbecue and hosted the event in Evanston for the first time. “From a local park perspective, this park has everything you need to learn and have fun.”
Evanston’s park has features for flat ground, street and transition skating, including rails, quarter pipes, ledges and ramps ranging from gentle to steep.
Queer Skate Chicago is a group that has been hosting events like “Gay Skate Time” since last November, which also includes food and activities. The next meeting is on September 7th from 3-7pm at Burnham Skate Park in Chicago.
FroSkate is also planning future events. A meeting is planned for September 20th, the location has yet to be decided. You can find them on Instagram (@froskate) and Your website.
Rogers has been volunteering at froSkate for a year and soon left her table to skate in the park. “There are a lot of friendships that are formed too,” Rogers said. “I like people watching, seeing people, meeting friends, exchanging Instagrams and seeing them come to other events together. And I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is awesome! People are making friends and starting their own little crews and stuff.’ I love seeing that.”
Matt Farrauto contributed reporting.
