The Jeff Kendall Graphiti Re-Issue from Santa Cruz and Dan Smelik

Re-issue decks are simply amazing. They inspire a strong sense of nostalgia from the mid to late 80's--a time when skateboarding was blowing up and capturing the lives of kids everywhere. This Jeff Kendall graffiti is no exception. When I first saw this deck, it brought back nothing of fond memories of a great friend, Dan Smelik.
Dan is the guy that reinvigorated my love of skating. Sure, I had a blue plastic board in the 70's, but we lived on a dirt road in the sticks, and there really wasn't anywhere for me to skate. One day when we where hanging out at his house after school, Dan asked me if I wanted to skateboard. I hadn't touched a skateboard since that blue plastic one. He pulled out two super rad decks and we started skating. Dan had just moved to Virginia from Santa Cruz, California and he had a red 7 ply Santa Cruz special edition;  his brother a blue 5 ply of the same model.  I thought these were the coolest decks in the world.
Dan and I skated every chance we could, solidifying my love of the sport.
  

Rocket Invert at the underground parking garage in downtown Fairfax, with what else? A Kendall World Blowing up deck!
I am riding Dan's brother Neil's Blender coffee deck in this shot.

  
  He built this hilarious little wedge ramp we would pull out in the street and do wacky tricks off of. Here is Dan with a nice 180 plant. Making it look so steezy! That's the SC special edition deck. SICK!
 






I don't think Dan rode anything but Santa Cruz decks, since this was where he spent a good chunk of his childhood. The last 2 decks I remember him having were the Kendall World Blowing Up and this Kendall graffiti. So now that I am able, Dan, I am sending you this Personalized Kendall signed deck for your wall. It's is the very least I can do for the man that introduced me to my first skateboard!

Dan and me hanging out at PVI before we went out to do some street skating.


So, those of you that are new to the sport, those of you who have never stopped skating, and those who are rediscovering the love, stop into Alpine and check out all the amazing re-issue wood we have in stock. Powell Peralta, Sims,Vision, and of course, Santa Cruz. Get one for your wall, or get one to skate.  And as you can see, they make great gifts too!