ANDREW:
What is your skating history? What age were you when you got into skating. When did you stop actively skating, if that is applicable? Conversely, when and why did you get back into skating?

BRIAN:
It might have been earlier, but the earliest recollection I have would be age 11, so that would be in 1976. My first skateboard was borrowed from an older kid who lived down the street. My family used to vacation yearly in Ocean City NJ and I had taken the borrowed skateboard on vacation with me, and this one particular summer they had opened Wonder Wave, part of the Wonderland Amusement Pier. My mom took me there and within 10 minutes I had completely knocked the wind out of myself. My mother recalled hearing that awful sucking sound one makes when they are trying to re-inflate their lungs and she KNEW it had to be me. After that vacation in Ocean City, I gave back the borrowed board and over the course of the next few months I skated with cheaper boards including a white makaha; all I can remember of that board is that it was white, and that it had no grip tape, but the plastic was rough and it had orange wheels (with loose ball bearings of course).
By Christmas of that same year my mother realized this was not another passing phase for me, and I received my first real board, a G&S Warp Tail 2, with Bennet Trucks with those crap ass plastic baseplates and had OJ wheels. (I got that from the Peddler’s Shop in Haddonfield NJ). Before purchasing this board I would go with my parents to the Moorestown Mall, and stand in Hermann’s Sporting Goods staring at the skateboards for HOURS, being shy, I never even had the nerve to even stand on them in the store…
After Wonder Wave, my mother took me to a park in Somers Point, NJ. I then moved on to Webers Wave in Brooklawn NJ (behind a Weber’s Rootbeer), my next park was part of a bus trip to Vineland. I guess the first real skatepark I went to (not just a 70’s style snake run) was Philadelphia Skatepark, which had a half pipe, a snake run which ran into a bowl and a small keyhole bowl that had pool coping. Everything but the keyhole bowl was painted with industrial shiny blue paint that was so slippery, but I think they did it to cover the inferior concrete work.
One of my biggest memories from there is that Victor Perez (a local pro at that time) taught me how to pump the transitions in that little bowl with the pool coping. After my mom had taken me there a few times she was glad to see that that there was going to be a local skatepark built. Hearing of a pre-opening membership deal, we went to the little trailer that was their office during construction and I obtained my membership 6 months before they opened. I remember looking thru the open bay doors and seeing the holes that had been dug, and they were spraying the concrete for the transitions. That had to be in 78. Cherry Hill finally opened up and I skated there until 1980. It got to the point where my mother got sick of driving me, and I only lived about 5 miles away, so I would ride one skateboard to the park, and carry another board for skating at the park.
My park board was a Powell Parelta Snub Nose Ray “Bones” Rodriguez with Tracker 6 Tracks and Bones wheels.
Once the park closed I didn’t skate again for about another 3 years until I was 18 and at that time there were no skateparks at all. I always had a skateboard, was skating off and on, but not regularly, none of my close personal friends skated. Around this time I noticed there were a lot of kids skating in the neighborhood, kids around 14 - 16 years old, so I would street skate with them until I got bored with that. I had always had ramps in my backyard so I built a quarter pipe for the kids and me and then eventually decided to build a half pipe in a clearing in the woods near my house. It was an 8 ft wide, 6 ft high, mini half. I guess that lasted for a year, then had to be torn down because it was on private property. The owner felt bad and gave us $500 so we could build another ramp in a kids back yard. This ramp was 16 ft wide and 10 ft tall vert ramp.
We had been taking trips over to Philly and skating the sun dial at Penns Landing, etc. Our group had knick-named ourselves “DTSE” (Dog Town Skates East).
That was the extent of my skating life until I was about 23. I always kept a skateboard but basically retired from skating at this point until now. The initial interest in skating again was prompted by the prospect of being involved as a consultant for Title 10 Skatepark in Philly and my girlfriend’s 15-year-old son skated. I had to be “in that mode” to help with the skatepark and visiting other skateparks for research brought out that urge to do it again. So I’ve skated at a few of the local parks, Vans in Moorestown on Old School Night, etc.

ANDREW:
What was your favorite part of the park to skate?

BRIAN:
I’d have to say, because this was the first skatepark that had vert, at first I used the L shape hip bowl a lot and would cruise around in the banked slalom area and once I started getting the hang of that type of skating, I would skate in the right and left hand kidneys… My dad told me he wasn’t coming to see me until I could ride “in that big pipe thing.” So I started doing more in the half pipe. Because I was goofy foot I could come down the pipe and then get into the ¾ area and be able to front side ollie out of the ¾ onto the big roll in into the bowl (this was as good as I got, was the extent of my “moves.”). Probably one of the odd things is that I didn’t use the big egg bowl as much, since it seems that most people talk of riding that the most, but the sheer size of it was just intimidating. The keyhole bowl was just not ridable to me, was too kinked and too much vert. I did see people like Brad Bowman do really well in there, but it hardly ever got used that I can recall. I liked skating Cherry Hill, but to me, half the allure of the place was just being there to witness all these great skaters, to be a part of that whole scene. I just always felt there was something special about the place.

ANDREW:
How often did you session CHSP?

BRIAN:
I tried to get there a couple of times a week, but as I said, my mom grew tired of taking me so I had to skate there, and I had to rely on her giving me the money to go.

ANDREW:
Who did you skate with when you went to CHSP?

BRIAN:
None of my close friends skated, so I went by myself. Now and then I would meet people there and skate with them. I indirectly skated with people like Brad Bowman, Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, Doug De Montmorency, Jamie Godfrey, Dean Godfrey, Mike Jesowoski, but I was extremely shy, I kept to myself, didn’t talk to anyone and because of this I was one of those kids that got snaked all the time. Even tho I got snaked, I got to see some of the best skateboarding I have ever seen even until this day.

ANDREW:
How did you initially find about CHSP being opened? Was it announced on TV, newspaper, etc?

BRIAN:
I think my mom read it in a newspaper.

ANDREW:
At the height of its popularity, how big were the crowds? How much did a session cost back then?

BRIAN:
On a Saturday afternoon, it was packed. You really had to be very aggressive to get your turn in the different bowls. It was just as popular or more popular than a Saturday afternoon session at a Vans, but then on a Monday or Tuesday night it might be you and two other skaters.

ANDREW:
CHSP quickly became a favorite park for the California pros due to the pools like the Egg pool. Please give me some good stories, anecdotes, etc of the pros who were there at the time - i.e. Stacy Peralta, Alva, Shogo, Bowman, etc. Include any unusual or funny stories of personal interactions or things you saw the pros do - both on and off the board…i.e. like the one you told me about BB.

BRIAN:
I remember Shogo and a couple of the older dudes there heckling and screaming a lot while I was there, people like Mondo and TA. I just remember a lot of sessions where everyone was cheering on, not that I took part, (the shy kid) but I got to see it all, it was the best of the best at that time.
I remember Brad Bowman storming thru the double swinging doors appearing to be in a foul mood. At the end of the snack bar was a little room that was like a work shop that he wanted to gain entrance to, and it was locked or whatever. But I remember him smashing his skateboard into the door for what felt like a half hour until someone let him in. This story was nothing negative about Brad, he was one of my favorite skaters to watch. Though I would not have expected this from the more mellow Southern CA skater.
The people that I recall were Tony Alva, Brad Bowman, Shogo Kubo, Doug De Montmorency,

ANDREW:
Did you know any of the management/staff? How about the design or construction team? If yes, who did you know and list anything of interest or significance.

BRIAN:
No, but I remember the frizzy haired girl with big boobs who worked behind the counter and who would rest them on the desk.

ANDREW:
Who were your favorite CHSP skaters -both locals and resident pros of that time and why?

BRIAN:
I would have to say my favorite was Jamie Godfrey, he had such a smooth style, and everything looked effortless. He was one of those people that if you saw him skating, you would just stop in awe. He was more fluid than many of the pros from California. He had the egg bowl and the far right hand kidney wired. He seemed pretty shy himself, his mom would bring him and his brother Dean, and even though Jamie was a regular himself, he was not as aggressive as many of the others and seemed to keep to himself. Then there was his little brother Dean (aka “li’l ripper”) and looking back at pictures, I have to guess that he was no more than 6 years old. The boards came up to his chin but he had no fear, he rode the egg bowl just like everyone, from the pros to the old guys, he was just as good or better than a lot of the skaters there. There are videos of him on the website. Rumor has it that Dean grew up to be a doctor.
And then there would be Mike Jesowoski. He had a more aggressive style, very innovative with tricks, probably the first person I ever saw do a board slide that seemed to go half way around the egg bowl (15 blocks or more of coping). It was just amazing to watch.
Powell would later sponsor both Jamie and Mike. Unfortunately, I have heard that Mike has passed away, tho I am unsure of when.

ANDREW:
When did you find out about the park being closed down? When was the last you skated there?

BRIAN:
I don’t remember how I found out, but I had stopped going in late 1980.

ANDREW:
What impact did that have on the skate community and on you personally?

BRIAN:
I had stopped going months before it closed, being 15 at the time, other influences had begun to capture my interest and lessened the intense desire I had to skate… girls and hanging with my friends at the Cherry Hill Mall, took precedence of going to the park…. Later when I got back into skating I realized the influence that the park had on me, as I was used to the concrete terrain and there was none to be found, there was no round wall skating available so we had to settle for the mini halfs and the vert ramps.

ANDREW:
After almost 20 years, what inspired you to build a page dedicated to CHSP?

BRIAN:
I have never had a conversation about skateboarding where Cherry Hill has not crossed my mind. There is not a relationship, friendship, etc where they have not heard my stories of Cherry Hill. I have told countless young skaters they "don’t know what a real skatepark was like because you never got to ride cherry hill." It’s just the most memorable part of my childhood. I had thought for years that it was only me that felt this way about this skatepark, since I skated alone, I didn’t know that there were others out there that had the same passion about Cherry Hill until I read interviews in Thrasher etc. in the mid 80’s and they would mention CHSP being their favorite skatepark. I always thought it was special but didn’t realize how special until I heard it from the people I looked up to as a kid. Unfortunately there was no outlet to research the skatepark until I had an internet connection, which was in 1997. One of the first searches I did was for Cherry Hill with virtually no responses, and thru the years I would continue to check, to see if anyone had anything. One of the first people that I saw have anything to do with Cherry Hill was Glen Friedman. Glen had pictures of Steve Alba and Allen Gelfand. I was happy to see those pictures but I just always believed that there would be more people out there than that. Then I started to see a mention of Cherry Hill on the Apple dedication site, that they had interviews with numerous people that had skated Apple and Cherry Hill. In my affiliation with the Title 10 skatepark, there had been many times during meetings for the park that I would mention CHSP, using it as a model. During this time I had come across a post on a message board on the Apple site, submitted by Paul Pellerin, mentioning that he had B&W photos of CHSP and he had pictures of Jamie Godfrey and Victor Perez. He made mention in his post that if anyone had any interest in the B&W pictures to contact him.
I contacted Gary Davis from the Apple site and he put me in touch with Paul. He had the pics but they weren’t in the best shape, he talked about having them redone. We exchanged emails a few times, I mentioned to Paul when he got his prints back maybe it would be a cool idea to showcase them on a website for everyone to see. He had an interest but had no web design knowledge, so my first thought was that I could help him make a site to showcase the photos, no more no less.
During this timeframe with Paul I came across someone selling prints of the pros skating at Cherry Hill on ebay, Scott Jarden. I contacted Scott and was happy to find out that he lived in Westchester PA and that he would frequently come over to Jersey to skate at the Moorestown Vans. Now that I had all of this “stimuli” and knowing that Paul had the pictures but not the knowledge to display them, I decided on my own to see if the URL cherryhillskatepark.com was available and I was pleasantly surprised when it was. I questioned my girlfriend about whether I should buy it or not. She responded, “You’ve never stopped taking about the place, why shouldn’t you buy it?”
I was just going to use stuff I had found on the internet and Paul’s photos when he had them redone. It was to be a site that contained a few memories. I decided to post on other boards that I was doing this and there was an overwhelming response to this endeavor. From the first day of owning the site there were people out there that wanted to contribute.
Of the first to respond were Tim from Vintage Florida Skateboard Forum message board, OldVertDog Old School Skate Forum and Andrew from Andrew’s Old School Skateboarding Forum. I had contacted Scott Jarden and let him know I was doing this and he was kind enough to lend his extensive collection to the site. Within the 1st week the page had exceeded any expectations I had had for it.
Bill Heleny sent me his collection of pictures and had mentioned that he was in contact with Glen Friedman, and informed Glen of the site. Glen gave his “blessing” to use his photos on the site as well. From there I started receiving unsolicited interviews from Matt Suchodolski, another pleasant surprise. At this time it has grown to have 12 photo galleries, everything on the site was arranged by me, but it is the contributors that deserve all the praise, I’m just the messenger.
I’m looking forward to more interviews such as Wally Hollyday (builder of CHSP), and possibly Duane Peters and Shogo Kubo interviews.

ANDREW:
How long has the page been up?

BRIAN:
Since February 7th, 2003

ANDREW:
How much work was involved in getting the page to its current level of content?

BRIAN:
The page itself is just a basic page, there is nothing special about it other than its content. My one goal was to recreate some of the old logo designs, but without the help of the contributors the site would not exist. If the place didn’t have some sort of magic, why did so many keep so many mementos of that time, of that place? Their input has made the site what it is

ANDREW:
Your photo collection on the page has some pretty famous pictures by Glen E. Friedman (as well as other private photo collections) - how did you go about getting permission to use the pictures? Anyone one refuse to allow you to use their photos or want $$ for using them?

BRIAN:
No one has wanted money, everyone has been magnanimous with their contributions

ANDREW:
Describe the response and/or feedback on the page you have received so far. Has Wally Holliday or any of the former CHSP locals, resident pros, or anyone formerly connected the park contacted you about the page?

BRIAN:
One of the first pros to contact me was Allen “Ollie” Gelfand, and he was excited as well as Buddy Carr (of Tracker Trucks) who was happy to see the sight and sad to say that he had never made it to the park. Everyone (so far) that has been interviewed has seemed excited that someone had taken on the building of the site. Local Pro Victor Perez was kind enough to contact me and was pleased to see photos of the park (and of himself). Employees like Rich (Tall) Hartline and Steve Eye have contacted me, they have been a big help with content and stories. Tall still lives in the area and is still in contact with a lot of the people that worked there and skated there.
The enthusiasm of former park skater Matt (The Ratt) Suchodolski was so fueled by finding the site that he took it upon himself to submit the interviews of people we want to hear about on the site. And there are numerous others that have contacted me about the site, more than one skategeezer has mentioned that after finding the page and going thru it, it brought a tear to his eye.

ANDREW:
Supposedly the lot where CHSP resided is now a dental supply distribution center. Do you ever go by the old park location? As crazy as it sounds, there has been some message board posts in the past suggesting that there should be an effort (on someone’s part) to buy the land where the park was originally located and dig up the Cherry Hill Skatepark (as well as any other skate parks like Apple in Ohio) that were” only buried and not bulldozed”? What are your thoughts on this?

BRIAN:
Originally I was one that had latched onto this rumor, but the more I thought of it, sadly, the more I have to believe that it is not true. While they may have filled in and built over areas of the park, much of the foundations existed above ground level and they would have been destroyed. The free style area would have been ground level and anything above that would have been pushed into the bowls which would have included at least 4 or 5 feet of the big egg bowl and at least 2 feet of the kidneys and the keyhole, as well as the ¾ extensions of the half pipe. (This has since been confirmed by Gary "Dogman" Spatola who was one of the last to skate the park, breaking in after the park had closed, on more than one occasion, returning for another "illegal session" to find bulldozers where there had been bowls.)

ANDREW:
What future plans for the CHSP page? More footage, videos, interviews forthcoming?

BRIAN:
I have been contacted by Mike Segiel , who knows a frequent traveler to the park, Tom Groholski, whose dad took tons of 8MM footage of the park and photos as well and we are hoping to get a hold of this and to be able to bring it to the site very soon.

ANDREW:
If someone has photos/video clips, or stories about CHSP they would like to submit to be posted, can they do so and what is the email contact address to do that?

BRIAN:
Contributions are welcome, we can be contacted at: help@cherryhillskatepark.com (please contact us first before sending photos and videos).

ANDREW:
THANKS BRIAN!!!!