SOTW 7-6-09: Miniramp demo at Shelter in Chicago

I can’t recall the date exactly, but I’d say this was taken in 1990, or 91. There was a hipster nightclub in Chicago called Shelter. They would have all kinds of events and promotions, and since I was a partner in the silkscreen business that printed for them, I occasionally got to be involved behind the scenes in a minor way. For instance, I got to hang out with some the famous club kids from NYC, before they became famous murderers. Another event that I didn’t understand but certainly enjoyed, was the outdoor miniramp. Someone came up with the promotion to build a miniramp in the outdoor section of the club, whic was really large, if I recall correctly. The club was located in a sort of derelict industrial area, next to some railroad tracks, so noise wasn’t an issue. Originally I was actually supposed to build the damn thing, but somehow it got puled out from under me, and a guy named Sluggo took charge, which was kinfd of annoying as he was an employee of mine at the time. Sluggo? There are a few “Sluggos” in skateboarding scenes across the nation, this guy lives in Chicago. So they set up the ramp and had people skating it on nights when it was open. I don’t think anyone got paid to skate, out side of the opening night maybe, I think you just got in free. Basically, sweaty guys would skate and then drunk girls would watch them, or not. I brought some friends over to skate it a couple of times during the day when the club was closed. It was nothing special, except for the setting. I think maybe 12 ft wide and 5 feet tall, but that’s a guess. This shot is (Is NOT!) Chicago skate legend Steve “Dread” Snyder, the same guy from the famous Alva team ad, and more recently Uprise employee with his own Nike Blazer. The guy in the upper left hand corner is probably Jesse Neuhaus, and the Sessions sticker was for the short lived Chicago location of Sessions. Check out the Shot of the Week.