Photos by Nathan Hutsenpiller

We threw a Back-to-School Skate Jam and BBQ this past weekend at McCarren Park, and it was such a blast! We wanted to share some of the fun with everyone online and extend a big thank you to everyone who showed up and made it happen. Read about our day below!

The afternoon started off with a sick skate jam, where we had a bunch of local rippers tearing up the park. We got our hands on a pile of good promo gear for the event, and we were stoked to give out prizes and gift cards to anybody whose skating really left an impression! Our good homies Olivia and Alyssa (above) held it down on the megaphone, they kept the crowd hyped and held people stay responsible when it came to keeping the park clean and staying hydrated. There were lots of groms really throwing down, and it left us feeling confident that the future of skateboarding is in good hands.

Once the sesh wrapped up, we all migrated over to the McCarren grills where our resident grill-master Jacob Campbell had a lineup of glizzys ready to hand out to all comers. With a row of veggie dogs in one grill and a row of specialty dogs in another, Jacob had been prepping the food while the skate jam wrapped up. We ended up just chilling and grilling well into the evening, talking everything from skateboards and video parts to video games and stories of days gone by. It was a summer evening to remember, where everyone left with a smile on their faces and some food in their stomach if not more.

In the end, our idea for a silly end of summer barbecue turned into a really special night thanks to our community showing up and giving us full support. With summer drawing to a close, we want to say Good Luck to everyone who is facing a new school year, whether that's as a student or as a parent, as well as anyone who is facing any new life challenges this fall. We still have some back to school gear left in the shop, including a jumbo pen and a lanyard that we're excited to announce. As a special thank you for coming with us on this blog ride we wanted to off 10% off any shop tees with the code BACKTOSCHOOL22.