History of A.B.S. – Avalon Bellevue Skateboarders and Bayne Park Skate Plaza
A.B.S. stands for Avalon Bellevue Skateboarders.
A.B.S. was a crew of friends that spent their time skateboarding, filming, and hanging out in Avalon and Bellevue. We skated the streets of Avalon Heights, Eugene Street, and all around town. We also took trips to B-cubed Skatepark, McKinley Skatepark and other street spots around the city. Alex, Karl and Zach Greif’s family had a camp out past grove city and we even traveled up there in our Volkswagens to skate the town of Franklin.
Bellevue has always had a huge skateboarding presence. Two groups of skateboarders started renegade skate-parks in an abandoned tennis court in town. Before the time of the A.B.S. crew, I was involved in the first renegade park. It basically consisted of a wooden table on concrete blocks, an old door propped up like a ramp on more concrete blocks, and other various trash-found obstacles. At the time, we didn’t understand that we couldn’t legally have the obstacles at the park. So the borough workers had no choice but to throw everything away. Another group of kids, years later, brought home-made grind boxes, rails and ramps to the same location. For some reason, this renegade park lasted for a longer period of time. Although the obstacles lasted longer, they were still confiscated and thrown away by borough workers. The skateboarder’s hearts were broken, but they understood that their belongings had to be removed from the park for legal reasons.
In the past 10 years, I have been out skateboarding with at least 50+ friends and local kids from the Bellevue area. Some still skateboard regularly and others wish they could skateboard more. In July of 2008, Brian Buck and I opened Plank Eye Board Shop in Bellevue. We have met and skated with a lot of people since opening our shop. The skateboarding presence in Bellevue has grown even stronger over the years. We started attending borough meetings to let the council know that we are here and we need a safe place to practice our skateboarding tricks. Now the skateboarding community’s enthusiasm for a safe place for active, constructive, and creative skateboarding has aligned with the borough council’s vision for a better Bellevue. Our efforts are quickly gaining strength for an attractive skate-plaza to be built at Bayne Park.
The A.B.S. video clips below are from a video I made as part of the AV crew at Northgate high school in 2003. It features a large group of friends that were dedicated to skateboarding and filming everyday. Karl Greif and I have gone on to college to pursue video production and currently work in the field. This just proves that skateboarding isn’t a waste of time and can lead kids in a positive direction. All of the local kids in town and kids from all over Pittsburgh are excited to learn more about the skate-plaza progress as the hype on the facebook group Bellevue PA Needs a Skate-Plaza!! shows!
Be sure to help our efforts for getting a skate-plaza by supporting our shop by shopping both online and in-store: http://www.PlankEyeBoardShop.com/ and by sharing this below and joining our facebook group Bellevue PA Needs a Skate-Plaza!!
and our page!
Also a DVD copy of the A.B.S. Video and other skateboard videos can be found here!
Thanks,
Carlo
Skateboard MAG, Transworld, and more products!
Plank Eye Board Shop now has Transworld and Skateboard MAG issues. Come get them!!! The most recent skateboard MAG comes with a free DVD skate video.
It’s getting cold out. Come get warmed up. We just received a shipment of hoodies, hats, and beanies today.
-Carlo
Our First Contest Footage
Our first contest was a blast. Check out this page to view the video footage from the event. The third video (Advance Game of SKATE) is coming soon.
-Carlo
New Products Coming
Products baby. We’re getting the shop decks in tomorrow. Come check em out wednesday after 5pm. We also have 3 new sets of Tensor Magnesium Light trucks, short sleeve t-shirts, new grip (camo, skull print, zoo york cut out) all coming in the mail.
Also, “AND NOW” the new highly anticipated Transworld video arrives at our shop within the next few days.
Come get your copy, we will have a limited supply.
R.I.P. Blank Skate Supply
This was an edit I created for this really fun Blank Skate Supply skate session/demo at the old Cheswick Arena. It is now called Gravity. They have bands play there now and it is more of a “club” style place.
-Carlo
Plank Eye Board Shop coming soon!
Brian Buck and I are currently setting up our skateboard shop. We are almost ready to have our grand opening. Keep checking back here for updates. We also have a lot of great ideas in mind for future events and activities for the Pittsburgh skateboard scene. Pittsburgh has a tight scene and we want to keep it that way. This blog will keep everyone informed about our shop and also gather information on skateboard related events. Go out and skate!
-Carlo
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- Artober Fest Bellevue Fundraiser
- Go Skateboarding Day Pittsburgh 2011 Tuesday, June 21st
- The Outlaw Collective/Johnny Hero Interview Part 2
- History of A.B.S. – Avalon Bellevue Skateboarders and Bayne Park Skate Plaza
- Aldrin Garcia Breaks Highest Ollie World Record
- Projekt 50/50 – Art on Skateboards
- Cheap Skateboarding Goods – February Sale
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- Johnny Hero’s Christmas List…
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