Photos by Lara Cooper/Daily News 10-year-old Dylan Paschal of Bowling Green jumps off a box during a fundraiser for the skate park Saturday outside Blue Wallace.

Beyond the busy traffic of Scottsville Road, skaters defied gravity with ramp tricks Saturday during a fundraiser for Bowling Green’s skate park. The event drew hundreds of people and, according to organizers, sent a statement to those critical of the skate park.

Event organizer Nathan Curry estimated the skateboard/freestyle rollerblading/BMX competition in the parking lot near the Blue Wallace skate shop brought in about $3,000. The crowd peaked at about 350 around 1 p.m., and levelled out around 200, he said.

Curry, who describes himself as an &#8220old-school” skateboarder, took personal satisfaction in building the ramps for yesterday’s skateboard contest.

&#8220Skateboarding saved my life,” Curry said. &#8220It gave me something to focus and vent my frustrations on. It was my godsend.”

For six years, Curry managed Bowling Green’s original wood-and-metal skate park at Basil Griffin Park. He left for graduate school at Aalborg University in northern Denmark to study sustainable energy engineering, and when he returned to Bowling Green, he got an unpleasant surprise.

&#8220The guy we left to manage the skatepark embezzled all the money and let the insurance lapse,” Curry said. &#8220As sad as I am about that … the death of (the skatepark) sparked some people to approach the city for something more long-lasting.”

Curry said those making negative public comments about the skatepark don’t have all the facts.

&#8220A lot of the arguments that politicians are using are not well-researched,” Curry said.

&#8220The general public looks at how dangerous this sport can be and think that danger equals lawsuits.They’re not looking at national statistics, just a relatively isolated incident (in Louisville).”

Curry said politicians should consider the hundreds who attended Saturday’s event a fraction of those who will use Bowling Green’s skate park.

&#8220A lot of politicians are saying there is an apparent lack of use,” Curry said.

Kentucky’s skater movement is still at the grassroots level, Curry said. But the park will bring skaters from neighboring states and skater groups traveling along Interstate 65, he said.

The Skate Tennessee Web site at skatetn.com shows several discussion forums about Bowling Green’s skate park, some drawing more than 2,000 posts.

&#8220This kind of energy will be a lot more frequent once the park is open,” Curry said. &#8220It’s going to improve the community more than people realize.”

Owensboro resident Mike Kenney, an art teacher at Daviess County Middle School, said skateboarding became popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Around 1992, when Kenney attended college, the popularity of the sport trailed off, he said. But the X Games aired on ESPN in 1995, bringing a wider audience and corporate sponsorships to the sport..

&#8220Now there’s a lot of money now that promotes and publicizes skateboarding, inline-skating, BMX and FMX,” Kenney said. &#8220(Corporations) know that there are a generation of skaters like me that are 33, that are taxpaying adults. We’re still here.”

It has taken skateboarding a long time to really take off here, he said, because skateboarding usually thrives in more urban areas.

Two Greenwood High School students that participated in the event hope to reach into the professional skater ranks next week.

Eighteen-year-old senior Steven Tat and 16-year-old junior Roger Langley will be in Dallas on Oct. 27 to compete in the Aggressive Skaters Association World Finals.

Tat won first place in rollerblading in the advanced category yesterday, and has been skating for about seven years. Tat said he likes meeting new people through skating.

&#8220I really love skating,” he said. &#8220It’s just like any other sport. You just go out and do it.”

Langley said he knows he won’t be skating forever, but right now it’s an integral part of his life..

&#8220I’ll always be a part of the rollerblading industry,” Langley said.

Lowe’s and Ikon Construction donated materials to create the course, while The Place, Howard’s Cycling & Fitness, Greenwood Skate Center and Marty Eubanks World Champion Karate Academy donated items for auction. Concessions and T-shirts by Print Mafia were also available.

Film fundraiser

Another fundraiser for the skate park will take place on Nov. 11, when a skateboard film double feature will be held at Great Escape Theatre 12.

Two skateboard films will be shown – one &#8220old school” and one &#8220new school” – for $7 per ticket.

Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. and videos start at 10 a.m.

The event will show what Curry considers to be the greatest skateboard video classic of all time – 1987’s &#8220Search for Animal Chin,” which champions Powell Peralta skateboards and includes skaters such as Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain and Mike Vallely.

The 2004 movie &#8220Elementality” will also be shown, which features riders such as Vallely, Bam Margera of MTV’s &#8220Viva La Bam” fame, Tosh Townend and others.

Competition results

Skateboarding division:

Beginner:

1st: Dylan Paschal of Bowling Green

2nd: Sam O’Keffe of Indiana

3rd: Tyler Massey of Bowling Green

Advanced:

1st: Jason Miller of Kentucky

2nd: Wesley Driver of Bowling Green

3rd: Bly Nantz of Owensboro

Rollerblading Division:

1st: Steven Tat of Bowling Green

2nd: Tony Woodland of Nashville

3rd: Brad Anthony of Bowling Green

4th: Daniel Powell of Owensboro

5th: Michael Cole of Bowling Green

BMX Division

1st: Jacob Rhoades of Bowling Green

2nd: Jonathan James of Bowling Green

3rd: Chris Saunders of Elizabethtown