The BCSA is holding a memorial skate challenge for Tommy McGuigan called “Dawn of the Shred” on Saturday July 10th @ 1pm. The event will be held at the Eric Scott McKinley Skatepark in Corvallis and is a fundraiser for the proposed Corvallis Skate Bowl. We will have live music from Hermit, The Left Ovaries and others and a BBQ. The skate challenge includes a skate track time challenge, long ollie (ramp to ramp), longest grind in the bowl, best trick and highest ollie/hippy jump.

Bob Biniak died from complications related to a heart attack last Thursday. Top left photo courtesy of Glen E. Friedman. Board photo from Disposable. I might have to start reading my Google Alerts again.

Member of the original Zoo York art/skate crew, activist, skatepark designer, and all around skate scene motivator Andy Kessler died from an allergic reaction to a wasp sting on Monday. As reported in Forbes, Skateboarder</a, ESPN, the Associated Press, UPI, New York magazine, and everywhere else but here, until now. Thanks to everyone who sent in the tips, I’m obviously not reading my google alerts this week. Here’s a 2007 video interview with Andy and another lengthy 2005 profile.

[Photo: Kingbee]

He was the Z-Boy that had the smallest amount of screen time in the documentary, and he was also the youngest one, hence the name “Baby.” Paul Cullen passed away on the 23rd last week. Cause of death has not been officially made known, but there has been some obvious speculation due to a history of substance abuse. His memorial was open to the public this past Saturday. The image above is from Glen E. Friedman, who recommends you check out Paul’s section on the official Z-Boys page. Yo Venice has more recent pictures of Paul.