Skate Jam to Pay Tribute to Mike Zweigle

After the Zweigles , 19, in December 2010, they wanted to find a way to celebrate his life and at the same time give back in a way he would love. With the help of Sun & Ski Sports where Mike worked, they came up with a memorial skate jam to raise funds for new skate parks.

The will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Brodie Park in New Hartford. Admission is $25 for skating and BMX participants and proceeds go to the Rob Dyrdek Foundation, Safe Spot, Skate Spot.

“We had originally wanted to do something to memorialize him and to do an annual event. We picked out the [Rob Drydek] Foundation because Mike was a big skateboarder and we thought this would be something he’d be really proud to have his name involved with,” said his mom, Christine Zweigle.

Mike wasn’t just a big skateboarder. He started skating young — maybe 9 years old, his mom said, and spent hours practicing at local skate parks.

“He just loved it a lot,” his mom said. “The picture on the poster [for the skate jam] was a picture that I had taken of him at 12 at a skateboarding event in Winsted that he won. He was competing against kids twice his age. He had a real love for it and a real knack for it.”

The culture of skateboarding — the tricks, the community and the local parks — was a big part of Mike’s life. But kids in some parts of the country are still fighting for acceptance and a place to skate. The Rob Drydek Foundation gives skaters the tools and funds to design and build skate parks in their communities.

“He was the best skateboarder I’ve ever seen,” said Matt Swainbank, shop coordinator for Sun & Ski Sports and a friend of Mike’s. “I think this is the thing he would have wanted the most."

Registration will start at 11 a.m., followed by a memorial time at 11:30. Friends and family are welcome to share their memories of Mike. Pictures and videos of Mike will be displayed.

Warm-ups will start between 12:30 and 1 p.m. The competition will run until 4 p.m., when the winners will be announced. A candlelight service will be held at the end of the day.

With registration, participants will receive a memory wristband an event t-shirt and schwag from local businesses.

Businesses have been incredibly supportive, Chris Zweigle said. George’s Restaurant and Olive Bar, Master Pizza, Luna and Da Vinci have all supported the event and local grocery stores have donated water and soda, she said. St. Mary Star of the Sea and Ahern Funeral Home have made donations, too.

Many skaters have pledged to participate on the event’s Facebook page but skaters can also call Avon Sun & Ski Sports at 860-284-6818.