Duh! Skate Shop and RUSH presents…

Homegrown Skateboarders League Fall 2007
Skateboard Contest Series at the Mega Skate Plaza

HSL is designed for local skaters in middle or high school with beginner to intermediate skill level. Here is what one of the HSL parents had to say, "I've seen my son's self confidence tremendously improve since he joined the league, thank you!" With HSL, everyone wins prizes and by the time it's over, your skill level will be improved. HSL staff work with each skater to improve his skills on a weekly basis. HSL is exciting, challenging and fun for the whole family. So what are you waiting for, sign up today!

HSL Fall 2007 Schedule
Tuesdays Contest Series
Middle School Skaters
Oct 16 Street Area w/Highest Wall Ride
Oct 23 Street Area w/Best Trick on the China Banks
Oct 30 ES Game of S.K.A.T.E. on Flat Ground
Nov 6 Street Area w/Best Trick on Hip
Nov 13 Street Area w/Best Trick on Manual Pads
Nov 27 Game of S.K.A.T.E. on Entire Course
Dec 4 Street Area w/Best Trick on Roof Gap
Dec 11 Street Area w/Highest Flat Ground Ollie

HSL Fall 2007 Schedule
Thursday Contest Series
High School
Oct 18 Street Area w/Highest Wall Ride
Oct 25 Street Area w/Best Trick on the China Banks
Nov 1 ES Game of S.K.A.T.E. on Flat Ground
Nov 8 Street Area w/Best Trick on Hip
Nov 15 Street Area w/Best Trick on Manual Pads
Nov 29 Game of S.K.A.T.E. on Entire Course
Dec 6 Street Area w/Best Trick on Roof Gap
Dec 13 Street Area w/Highest Flat Ground Ollie

Each skater will receive two 1-minute runs each night of competition. Highest score each night wins and second run will be used only to break ties. Skaters will earn points for each contest on the HSL point system. At the end of the 8-week series, the skater with the most points wins. All HSL skaters will receive 8 FREE SKATE SESSIONS valued at $80. All HSL points will also count in RSM School Series. .

Grand prize, One Year Session Pass to the Mega Skate Plaza, valued at $400! A spot in the MASA Am contest on Dec 14-16, 2007 valued at $100. All skaters will win great prizes provided by our sponsors.

HSL is proudly sponsored by;
Duh Skate Shop, RSM, Crimson, Etnies, ES, Emerica, Flip, Diamond, Fallen, Zero, Baker, Birdhouse, Appa Skateboards, Mystery, Pi Skateboards, Slave Skateboards

Join the League!
League dues are $120 for Mega Skate Plaza members and $160 for non-members.

Mega Skate Plaza 500 Blount Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301
Call 910-867-2424 for more info..
www.megaskateplaza.com www.masaskate.com www.myspace.com/duhskateshopandmegaplaza

The history of Duh Skate Shop, Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Assn. & the Mega Skate Plaza by Terry Grimble

1978
When I was 6 years old I lived in a little town called Hope Mills, NC. Basically Hope Mills is like a big neighborhood of Fayetteville. Shortly before my 7th birthday, I saw a movie that was so fascinating that I still recommend it to people to this day. This movie was hot because it combined out-of-this-world fantasy with real, raw reality and action. Naturally, new heroes were made seemly over night. The movie is called "Skateboard Madness" and you can still get it on DVD. Man, the things that those guys were doing at that time blew my mind. I can even remember visualizing myself skateboarding down the street and feeling the vibrations under my feet. Needless to say, I got my 1st skateboard on my 7th birthday from a department store called Roses. I wanted a 6 wheel, 3-truck skateboard that cost $30, but my Mom thought that I was crazy for wanting to spend $30 on skateboard, so I got one that cost $7 instead. It was plastic and wider than the norm with a kick tail. It was definitely slower than my brother's flat "speed board" as we called it. My brother and I called my board a "stunt board" because tricks like walking the dog and 360's seem to be easier to do on it. We skated all the time on those boards but it wasn't until I was 14 years old before I realized that there was such a thing as a "skateboarder". As a kid, we played a lot of sports such as baseball, football, basketball and rode bikes and skateboards. We watched TV, movies, played with Star Wars action figures and played doctor too. Those were fun things to do and we had access to those playing fields for traditional sports and/or turning our own yards and streets into fields. I found out much later in life that there were two (not one but two) skateparks in Fayetteville during the late 70's / earlier 80's and I had NO IDEA!!! Their advertising did not reach me or my friends but I'm sure that had something to with the fact that my brother and I were pretty much the only two dudes on the block with skateboards.

1985
I was at the Turkey Festival in this small town I lived in called Raeford and as I was walking down the street, I walked up on this kid who had a pretty amazing looking skateboard in his hand. It was a 10" x 30" Nash Heat Zone neon green. The moment I saw it, I knew that I had to ride it, so I asked the kid and he said, "Ok." I stood on that board and I didn't even have to ride it 10 feet before I realized what a piece of crap it was. I picked it up and carried it back to the kid and I said, "That's kind of cool but the board I had when I was younger rode better." It wasn't fun to ride, so I didn't think too much about it after that. However, a few hours later this other kid comes skating fast down the sidewalk, pops his board up into his hand, runs up a bench to the top of a trashcan and launches off the top of the can head high, puts his board back under his feet while he was still in the air, landed and roll away clean and smooth. After scooping my jaw off of the ground, I track him down and said, "Oh man, can I please. please, please try your board?" He said, "Sure." Man, that was an awesome board and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a G&S Neil Blender with Tracker Trucks, Rat Bone Wheels and German Bearings. I was in Heaven for a brief moment while riding that board and I had to ask, "Where did you get this board!?" "Hawley's is the place, my dad works there." said my soon to be best friend, Jeremy "Jerm" Williams. I was psyched and my mom and I were at that store the next week putting a top of the line board on layaway for Christmas. It was a Vision Old Ghost with Gullwing Trucks, Sims 63 Wheels, German Bearings, nose guard, tail guard, rails, copers and a Bird to boot.

The most insane fact about this shop was that they actually had a FREE skatepark behind their shop. This was 1985!!! I'm pretty sure that there weren't very many skateparks in America at that time and on top of that, this park was cutting edge with all the latest "street style" contest obstacles. This skatepark just may have been the very first "street style" skatepark in America. My friend's dad ran the shop and that summer he took us to my first amateur skateboard contest in Raleigh, NC. The contest was called The Endless Grind Amateur Street Style Open at the Rink and was put on by none other than Reggie Barnes, who is now the owner of Eastern Skateboard Supply. I still have the contest t-shirt and was blown away by how fun skateboard contest were. Plus I got to meet Reggie and that was exciting because he was a real pro skateboarder.

1987
I eventually got on the skate team for Hawley's and we used to hit up all of the skate contests from Maryland to Florida. Our team did very well and I believe the reason was because we had a free skatepark to skate everyday. In most cases, we would arrive at the contest early in the morning and the producers of the event would be screwing the last bits of the course together, so no locals had any advantage. If anyone had an advantage, it was us because we were used to skating the type of obstacles that were being built. Back then we had to compete against guys like Mike Sinclair, Pete Thompson, Sean Sheffy, Coco Santiago, Chuck Dinkins, Fred Reeves, Trey Womble, and Kris Markovich. A lot of contests were put on by independent producers but the ESA, Eastern Skateboard Association, produced the best ones because they were able to bring the entire east coast together and give the winners national recognition. It was our heyday and just about everyone on our team had full sponsorships from companies like Vision, Santa Cruz, Walker, Dogtown, Independent, G&S, Lake, Skate Rags, Vans, Bullet, etc., but it eventually came to an end.

1988
ESA was done and Hawley's had decided to shut down the skatepark after being hammered by their insurance agent for having it in the first place. What the insurance company never knew that it was back there? No wonder, that's why we were not required to pay money or wear stupid helmets. Some of the craziest and saddest moments of my life were about to unfold upon my friends and I. Our skatepark was gone and the next thing you know we were getting into all kinds of trouble. Peer pressure is the worst and I'm sad to say that our skate team was transforming into more of a skate gang. The rap group NWA became a huge influence in our lives as we took to the streets with our skating and being treated like criminals to the point where we actually became criminals! My conscience couldn't take it any more and I knew that I had to pull away from the trouble or else I would end up in jail. I decided to go out and find a real job instead of trying to make money illegally. I was out job searching one day and afterwards I stopped by Hawley's to pick up some bearings. As I pulled into the parking lot, I remember telling my friend that I was going to ask Mark for a job.  Mark said, "Sure, can you start Saturday? We need help in our skate department."

1989
By the end of 1989 a lot of my friends started getting busted by the police. I felt bad for my friends and then it dawn on me that we didn't get into any trouble when we had a skatepark. Because I worked at a skate shop, I had access to Transworld Business Magazine and it had an article about how to get your city to build a skatepark. I did some additional research and sent a letter to the City of Fayetteville's Park and Recreation Department.

1991
The City of Fayetteville finally approved the skatepark after two years of City Council battles with one condition; the skaters had to raise half the money for it. What kind of junk is that? Do baseball, tennis, basketball or football players have to raise half the money for their courts or fields? I was ready to give up because most of my friends were getting out of skateboarding or moving away and I was fighting this cause for them. I was starting not to care anymore but then one day when I was sharing my point of view with one the of my mentors, he said to me, "Terry, ya know, most pioneers rarely get to enjoy the fruits of their labor, their work usually benefits the next generations." Being known as a pioneer really appealed to me. To have a worthwhile cause for being on this lousy earth means a lot to me and so did skateboarding. This is where MASA, the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association began, not technically but the seed was planted. We had to raise money and to do that, we had to start an organization. Not knowing anything, I just decided to call the organization the Skaters of Fayetteville, but in all actuality it would have been better to call it the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association because we had skaters from Maryland to Georgia supporting our events and getting involved with our cause.

Soon after the Skaters of Fayetteville started raising money by holding benefit concerts, amateur skateboard contests and all sorts of other fundraising activities, I had my first vision of Duh Skate Shop. The vision was so real and all I had to do was walk through the doors that God was going to open. Up until that point, I never, ever thought for a second that I would be a business owner of any sort. I assumed that you had to be born with money to own a business or even to get one started. I grew up with a single mom with 5 kids and without much money. I've been own my own since I was 18 years old living paycheck to paycheck. It was at age 21 when I contacted the City and started the process of working out a deal with them to run the City skatepark in exchange for being able to start Duh Skate Shop at the skatepark and only pay $1 a year in rent. I quit my job at Hawley's so that I could work my full time on getting my shop open and part time to get me by while I was waiting for my shop to open.

This is the story behind the name. At first, we sat around and thought up all kinds of names but the one I was most happy with at the time was Da Skate Shop. Somehow from that, Duh Skate Shop popped out of nowhere and for some reason it stuck.  Plus, how can you forget the name "duh"?  It's different, fun and it's hard to forget.


1993
Finally, GP Skatepark was set to open and my contract with the City to run the skatepark was about as thick as a LA phone book. I was so psyched, my uncle had decided to invest into Duh and Tim Payne was on his way the next week to build our park. Then bad news came when the City called and told me that they could not honor the contract because of zoning laws that we all over looked. This was one week before the skatepark was going to open. I was devastated by the news. I lost my uncle's investment money and thousands of dollars worth of potential sells. Instead of being a skate shop owner, I became a part time employee of the City running their skatepark. I had no motivation to continue with the Skate of Fayetteville and thus stop making the SOF newsletter and I stopped hosting SOF events. In 1994, we did get a check out in 411 issue 7 and we got some great coverage in Transworld Skateboarding Magazine. Those articles gave me some new motivation to seek other ways of getting Duh open, so I said to myself, "Forget waiting on the City, I'm going down the street to find a location."

1995
Duh Skate Shop open for business on March 15, 1995 one block away from GP Skatepark. The sad part was the fact that GP had lost a great deal of its appeal because the City took over the operations. 

We were however able to host some great events at GP and continued to get some great coverage too. We hosted some great pro demo with some of the best pros in the business such as, Tony Hawk, Jamie Thomas, Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Ed Templeton and many, many more, but it was the amateur contests that were the most fun. The biggest thrill of throwing amateur contests is when you get to watch tomorrow's pros before they even have their first sponsor. This happen when Kerry Getz came to one of our Duh Skate Shop contest in 1996 and picked up his very first sponsor, Wheelie Co. Wheels. Kenny Hughes, Crooks, Bam, Mike Maldonado, Kyle Berard, Pat Rakestraw, Scott Bourne and Lennie Kirk were some of the other skaters that competed at our events as amateurs.

1998
The City decided to close GP Skatepark in November of 1998 and I was able to find a partner, Richard King to help fund my own privately owned indoor, skatepark, Duh SkateZone in January of 1999. We hired Team Pain to build our private skatepark and this time they sent Jeff Hammond. The park was 9,000sq ft and it came out very nice and served us well for 8 years. Duh SkateZone was also dubbed as a music venue, complete with stage, pa system, lights etc. We did shows with CKY, Zao, Little John and Eastside Boys, Mobb Deep, The Awakening, Pax 217, Mr. Cheeks, Fat Joe and many others. We decided to move Duh Skate Shop to a popular strip mall in 1998 and our sells really started to boom because of it. We expanded our products and services to include snowboarding and surfing as well. Things were going well and our snowboard sells were doubling from year to year. By the year 2000, I started making plans to launch the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association, MASA.

2001
Things were looking good for us to launch MASA in the spring of 2002, however our plans were foiled by the acts of September 11, 2001.  It was a well thought out plan but we found out that 90%+ of our snowboard customers were soldiers and they were all gone. 

2003
January of 2003 is when we moved Duh Skate Shop into the same building with our indoor skatepark. We decided it would be best if we just concentrate our efforts on skateboarding and not carry snowboards, surfboards nor do shows anymore.

2005
In the fall of 2005, we started a new skateboard league designed for locals called the Homegrown Skateboarders League, HSL. We ran one season with it and it was a success. We plan on bringing it back in the fall of 2007. During the last week of 2005 Tim Ferruzzi, who had just purchased a huge building in downtown Fayetteville, approached me one day while he was dropping off his two sons at my skatepark. Our skatepark was packed and Tim said, "Looks like you're busting at the seams. Have you ever thought about expanding?" I was skeptical at first because I knew the building that he was talking about and that building needed tons of work and I thought that it was too big and would be out of our price range. I did tell him about our plans for MASA Pro and how it would be nice to have somewhere to put our obstacles after the event, so that we could open it up to the public. The numbers checked out and in January of 2006 we signed a 5-year least on the building.

2006
News of the Mega Skate Plaza spread fast and before we knew it companies like Force Trucks, Satori Wheels, The Skateboard Mag, Crosskate, Schick, Cape Fear Skateboards, Appa Skateboards and Eastern Skateboard Supply were stepping up as sponsors. We could have built a simple set-up for the contest but because this was now going to be our permanent skatepark, we decided to go all out and make the best possible set-up that we could. I sat down with Jed Shooter, Gershon Mosley and a few other skateboarders and set out to design the best course ever. What do skaters have to say about the course?
· "It was the best course I've ever skated, like…I don't know, I've skated a lot of parks but this was amazing, you guys are psyched, you're going to have it here, so I'll be back just to skate the course, I'm psyched!" Jereme Rogers 2006 MASA Pro Champion.
· "Lacey LOVED the course, she said that it was one of the best yet!!!" Donna and Lacey Baker 2006 MASA Pro Women's Champion.
· "I know everybody I know personally I made a point to make sure to see their faces when they first saw the course and everybody looked like they'd just seen a damn train blow up." Steve LaClair Editor of the Contrast Video, www.skateperception.com & www.stevelaclairphotography.com
· "One of the best parts of the event itself was the course, it was one of the sickest street style skate parks I've ever been to." Jake Levine Snickers® Brand and BurtonT "Rover"

We held the contest at the Crown Coliseum and of course we had Team Pain come out build the course. The contest was great on many levels. Top pros came out to support it; Jereme Rogers, Kareem Campbell, Billy Marks, Greg Lutzka, Danny Fuenzalida and Mike Peterson to name a few. The vibe was really cool and the course was the best.  After the event was over, our plan was to move the course into our downtown building that it was designed for but the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA told us that it wasn't going to happen until some underground gas tanks were removed from the property. This was a major set back for us. It took 8 months to finally get the ball rolling again.

2007
Our landlord ensured us that our building would be ready by mid-April so that we could produce MASA Pro 2007 in the first weekend of May. By the end of March, we realized that our landlord was not going to be able to finish in enough time for us to be ready, so we postponed MASA Pro to June 15, 2007. We figured that we could at least get in the building by mid-May and that would give us time to get things dialed in before MASA Pro, but that didn't happen. We didn't receive our CO until 10:30am on June 15th with our event starting at 11am. Once again, this was another set back. The event was awesome, even with all the craziness. RockStar stepped in and became the title sponsor of the event and Fuel TV produce a 30-minute show of the event and grand opening of the Mega Skate Plaza. A lot of the same pros showed up again as well as some new ones like Ronnie Creager, Pete Eldridge, Billy Rohan and Paul Rodriguez. The Fuel TV show is scheduled to air worldwide 15 times during the fall of 2007 and so far, we have received tons of emails from all over the country saying "I saw you on TV! I'm coming to skate."  Until then my friends, thank you, Terry Grimble

RockStar MASA Pro 2007 is on Fuel TV!!!  Here are all of the dates and times, so don't miss it.  Fayetteville is on the map. 

Mon Sept 10, 2007  1:00am  (all times are eastern standard time)
Mon Sept 10, 2007  4:00am
Mon Sept 10, 2007 10:00pm
Fri    Sept 14, 2007 12:30pm
Fri    Sept 14, 2007   4:30pm
Sat   Oct    6, 2007  12:00pm
Sat   Oct    6, 2007    3:00pm
Fri    Oct   26, 2007  12:30pm
Fri    Oct   26, 2007   4:30pm   

This is from Mr. Steve Beck of RUSH Skate Ministries...

There has been some needed schedule changes and financial changes as well for the RSM students.

I have talked with Terry at length and I honestly feel these changes will benefit the ministry even though at first glance you may think otherwise.

Due to a need to increase revenue at the Mega Plaza to cover expenses all RSM students attending an authorized RSM Discipleship meeting will now skate their coinciding session for "Half Price".

Schedule: (in the Mega Plaza Conference Room praise God)

Wednesday Night: 5:00 Discipleship Group, Skate Session from 6:00 to 9:00 ($5.00)

Friday Night: 7:00 Discipleship Group, Skate Session from 8:00 to 12:00 ($6.00)

Benefit to Ministry : We can now sit down with the skaters and do some real teaching and mentoring without feeling rushed and the skaters will not feel as though they are missing part of their session because it does not even start until after the RSM meeting concludes. This opens the doors for us to accomplish much more. I know Terry wants to see this thing go much deeper than it has already as do I. Initially we may see a slight drop in numbers but the core group will be the ones who are serious about building their relationship with God.

Park Benefit: These changes add more skate sessions to the park, increase revenue as needed and still allow Terry to bless RSM and these skaters to the best of his ability.

If you guys have any questions please talk to me. Sometimes "free" does not breed an attitude of excellence but one of taking things for granted. I am hoping this will cultivate an attitude of appreciation and loyalty to all that God is doing with RSM and with Terry's vision for the Mega Plaza and the ministry that can happen there.

Thanks,

Steve Beck (campus pastor)

Middle School Director

RUSH Campus Ministries

reaching the unreached student harvest

(910) 670-8322 cell

(910) 867-9151 office

                    SESSION SCHEDULE TIMES & PRICES : 

         * Prices and times times subject to change without prior notice.

MON - WED session times are 11 am to 3 pm, 3 pm to 6 pm, 6 pm to 9 pm. $5 for members and $10 for non-members per session. ALL DAY PASSES are only $10 for members and $20 for non-members!

THUR - Session times are 11 am to 3 pm, 3 pm to 6 pm, and 6 pm to 9 pm. $3 for members and $10 for non-members per session. ALL DAY PASSES are only $6 for members and $20 for non-members!

FRI - Session times are 11 am to 2 pm, 2 pm to 5 pm, 5 pm to 8 pm, and 8 pm to 12 am. The 11 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm sessions are $5 for members and $10 for non-members per session. *The 5 pm to 8 pm and 8 pm to 12 am sessions are $6 each for members and $12 for non-members. ALL DAY PASSES are only $12 for members and $24 for non-members!

SAT - Session times are 9am to 12 pm *Remember, 12 years old and under for this first session. Then it's all ages the rest of the day  with sessions from 12 pm to 3 pm, 3 pm to 6 pm, 6 pm to 9 pm, and 9 pm to 12 am. $6 for members and $12 for non-members per session. ALL DAY PASSES are only $18 for members and $28 for non-members!

SUN - Session times are 12 am to 3 pm, 3 pm to 6 pm, and 6 pm to 9 pm. $6 per session for members and $12 for non-members per session. ALL DAY PASSES are only $12 for members and $24 for non-members!

        *** Female skaters are always welcome to ride for FREE!

        *** Remember if you're under 18 years old and you have not skated at the old Duh Skate Zone or the current Mega Plaza before, you will have to come in with a parent or legal guardian so they may sign a waiver form for you to skate.

         *** Helmets and pads are suggested however they are not required to skate the MSP.

         *** We will expect everyone to follow the rules of the Mega Skate Plaza at all times and please, skate within your limits and be mindful of others.

                                                                                                           

                           MEMBERSHIPS & PRICES : 

Basic Membership - For only $70 you'll get discounted session rates, anywhere from $3 to $6 to skate a session depending on what day you come. You also get 10% off everything in Duh Skate Shop. Basic members will also still recieve one FREE skate session with each purchase in the shop over $50. The Basic Membership lasts for one year from the day which it is purchased.

Silver Membership - Requires a one year contract and is based off of a direct bank draft from your bank account. You'll get all sessions FREE for the duration of your one year contract and 15% off all purchases at Duh Skate Shop. The Silver Membership price is $40 a month. As with the Basic Membership, you still get a FREE session with every purchase in the shop over $50.

Gold Membership - This membership is the daddy of all memberships! It pretty much gives you a VIP status at the MSP! For only $400 a year, you get ALL sessions for NO EXTRA COST! You are also entitled to 20% off everything at Duh Skate Shop and more!

         Memberships are a great gift idea! Purchase and invest in one today! 

*Also, remember that The Mega Plaza offers a wide list of other services ranging from birthday parties and private parties to private skate lessons and skate camps. We also hope to keep bringing you some great demos in the near future! Call Duh Skate Shop @ 910-867-2424 or write and ask for more info here on our page.

               Thankyou for your support and let's keep it rolling!

 

 

500 Blount St. Fayetteville NC ... Mapquest it or you can go by the directions listed below.

The Mega Plaza is cleverly located a mere 6 mins off I-95. At 6.1 miles and only three right turns, we'd say that is one darn good location. Take Exit 46B, Highway 87 and from 87 take exit 104 (Robison) then right again on Blount St. Then The Mega Plaza will be less than one block down to your left. The rather large yellow building. Duh!

Let's face it people, this place is so easy to find that Stevie Wonder could find it. If you can't find it, your either blind yourself, smokin something, or checking out some chick in the car next to you when you should be watching the road ya knuckleheads. So that's that. Call if you get lost Duh! skate Shop 910-867-2424

*** A very special thankyou to Mr. Jed Shooter for his help with the directions. Respect.