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| Robert airing off of the Foundation. One of the first members of Red Cube. |
In the summer of 1998, the skate scene in
Beebe was exploding. Any given day you could find Rollerbladers or skateboarders at the College or the School.
At the time, I was mainly a rollerblader. Some local kids decided to build and construct ramps at a local basketball
court. It caused a lot of problems because the basketball players couldn't play basketball (even though there were tons
more courts around). We got complaints from the neighbors that we were to loud, destroying property, ETC. Earlier
that year, a tornado had ripped down the First Baptist Church, right across the street from the basketball court, and left
behind a concrete foundation. Paradise. We had gaps, ledges, stairs, drops, anything you would want for a real
street skatepark, besides rails. We simply called it, The Foundation. It turned into a local hangout for anybody.
There were always kids there. There was a gap between the main part of the foundation to a wheel chair ramp that
was about 7-8 feet across. And about 4 feet deep. The kids named it the Shawn gap because I was the only one to
ever hop over it on my bike. Good times.
It was also a meeting spot for some good
sessions. I met Ken there, and he brought Scott along with him. Scott was having a tough time learning to carve
one of the ramps there, and now he airs out of quarters huge high. Andy used to call me on the phone and tell me that
there was someone new at the Foundation and they were good. So me, being the local hotshot, had to see this. That
meant competition for me. I was kinda like the teacher at the Foundation. So whenever a new person came around,
I was just thinking competition. Some of that Competition turned into life long friends.
Dude, I jumped that dirtpile, clipped my back tire on the way in, and flipped over
the bars. I landed first, the bike almost tackled me. Talk about a rush! I miss so much hopping my gap.
I got a call from Andy one day, "come out here! There is this dude doing one-eighties! You gotta check this
guy out Shawn! And he's riding a Huffy!" I remember TJ was jumping
one of the shady ramps and bruised his spleen. A couple of days later, he went with me and Ken to Springfield Missouri
to an indoor skatepark. Bruised spleen and all. Against doctors orders. Yeah.
-Shawn
Before I met you, the kids at the Foundation were always trying to get
me to do your gap, I never did but I shuould have, No guts...No glory. I bet I could have made it too. They all kept telling
me about you, Shawn is so rad,Shawn does the gap,Shawn does one-handers,Shawn's the man.
-Kris
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| Andy Hall and the rocket air to land rocket manual. One of the first members of Red Cube. |
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| TJ Pemberton, one of the originals and still shredding! Always Hoffman bikes |
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| Robert, airin' it out at the Foundation, and Shawn Smith grind at ASU Beebe |
Red Cube was a team that I made up because
all the other sports, even skateboarding, had them. The first members were Andy Hall, TJ Pemberton, Justin Oakley, Robert
McClure, and Shawn McClure. Over time, we built up to be pretty big. There was even a time when there was talk
about another group of kids wanted to challenge Red Cube to a contest. The thing was, it wouldn't have been a contest. We
were seriously that good. Red Cube consisted of rollerbladers and bike riders. Everybody rollerbladed
and rode bikes at one time or another. We were a pretty well rounded group.
The Foundation was not the only
place Red Cube could be found on any given day. We were constantly riding street, at the school, college, and down
town. A couple of us even got arrested for riding at ASU Beebe. TJ even had dirt jumps in his backyard.
We seriously rode everywhere. At one time, believe it or not, we almost had a skatepark. It was over the overpass
by Knights. The parks and Rec director claimed that the skaters and riders were tearing apart his batting cages so he
took it upon himself to tear it down. Thanks Story, I still can't stand you.
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| Ken, planting a tree in Beebe |
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| Shawn and TJ, putting Main Street to good use. |
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| Justin Duke, our only flatlander, switching it up with a couple of trackstand variations. |
At one point, Red Cube had a couple of girls on the
team. Bridget skated, and was getting pretty good. She was learning to grind and air fairly well. Tara was
my fiance at the time, so she skated with us. Those were the girls on the team, but that is not to say that we did not
have girls hanging out at the Foundation constantly. What can I say, skaters and riders are natural chick magnets.
Yeah.
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| Top Pic: Robert doing a 180 over the back sidewalk Bottom Pic: Shawn stylin |
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| Andy Hall, one of the Redcube originals. Rode a 16 inch with style |
The summer of 2001, the Foundation saw
its defeat. I rode past the Foundation one day and saw a backhoe in the middle of it. A tear rolled down my face,
because that was like our home away from home. I remember riding with TJ and Andy, teaching them to do barspins on the
ground. I remember the rush of hopping my gap for the first time. I remember feeble grinding for the first time
at the Foundation on a Specialized 415 down some long wood boxes. I could go on and on. The point that I am trying
to make is if you are ever as fortunate as we were with a perfect riding spot, take advantage of it. Once it is gone,
the memories will still be there. I promise.
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