Henry "Bad H" Hester, Paul Schmitt, Cindy Whitehead, George Orton
Micke Alba doing it old school
George Orton, Lisa Kudra, Brad Bowman, Eddie Elguera on the red carpet
Steve Caballero always looking good!
Freddie De Sota signing all the boards
Mike McGill was on fire all day long
The original "Skateboard Mom" Gale Webb, Cindy Whitehead, John Hughes
We love us some Jim Gray!
Steve Caballero at the half-pipe demo
Tony Hawk getting his picture done
Old school girls having fun - Laura Thornhill-Caswell, Louise Balma, Cindy Whitehead, Pam Miller
Kevin Staab at the vert ramp
Allan "Ollie" Gelfand's lovely wife Sharon and Cindy Whitehead
And then this happened - we ran into singer Tony Orlando at dinner and it turns he is a huge skateboard fan!
Green Room - cupcakes by Tiffany's Sweet Spot - Yummy!
Gale Webb and Christian Hosoi
So many boards the legends got to sign - everyone had a blast doing this¡
Howard Hood, Steve Hirsch, Micke Alba, & Freddie De Sota
Lisa Kudra, Henry Hester and Cindy Whitehead
Micke Alba
Tony Hawk & Mike McGill in the green room
Jami Godfrey old school Bones Brigade!
Brad Bowman came all the way from Spain
Photos
Ian Logan (the professional ones ) / iphone snaps Cindy
Eddie, Dawna Elguera and family totally outdid themselves with this event!
The Eddie Elguera "El Gato Classic" was three spectacular days of fun, food, skateboarding and FAMILY. As Brad Bowman said -
this is the family you choose.
It was wonderful to see so many old school skaters traveling in from all over just for this event. I think that Brad Bowman actually came the furthest, from his new home in Spain & I hadn't seen people like Bones Brigade team rider, Jami Godfrey in over 35 years, but watching him drop in and rip the bowl, it felt like just yesterday. Some of the skaters in attendance had not been at a California skate event in over 30 years so it was exciting to have most of us back together again.
It was such a family weekend that a lot of us brought our significant others or spouses and there was something for everyone to enjoy. From an amazing art show on Friday night, to the Saturday bowl session and a vert demo on Tony Hawks ramp, to a really well done and upscale dinner reception at the Hacienda Cantina & Beach Club on Saturday PM with Johnny Rad playing afterwards. The weekend concluded on Sunday with a church service at The Rock Church, and later a final skate contest in the afternoon.
I'd like to thank Eddie, Dawna and family, the El Gato team who made everything run so smoothly for us, as well as all the wonderful sponsors that were a huge part of this event.
