Calgary Herald + GSD article

From Today's Calgary Herald.

"CALGARY - The longest day of the year proved even longer for some Calgary police officers stuck dealing with a rash of mischief from a group of skateboarders on Sunday.

Go Skateboarding Day, an annual event that promotes the urban sport globally, had police working to respond to reports of minor vandalism and traffic safety through the day. Hundreds of skateboarders met on 17th Avenue S. W. and at Olympic Plaza to celebrate the sport, causing headaches for the police.

"It was resource intensive and included (our use of) the helicopter," said duty inspector Vic Trickett.

"We had skateboarders going up the wrong way on streets and avenues, going through red lights, causing a great deal of disruption to the regular traffic flow. In my opinion, they were endangering themselves and endangering others."

There were reports of skateboarders in the vicinity of a bus when its rear windows were smashed in, but neither police nor Calgary Transit pointed the blame at skateboarders.

It happened near 5th Avenue and 2nd Street S. W. at 12:30 p. m.

"One of our bus windows was broken by someone or another, but we don't want to attribute it to skateboarders because we don't know who's responsible," said Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins.

Some skateboarders took over a downtown intersection with makeshift ramps, stopping traffic on all sides.

"They actually closed an intersection and used that as an area to skateboard in," Trickett said. "So an investigation will ensue and we will look into all of these things."

According to a city report, more than 10,000 people skateboard in Calgary, more than the number who play organized hockey.

Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2003 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies to promote the sport.

Calgary skateboarders have celebrated the event each year since its inception, but have had a tough time shaking the stigma associated with the sport because of a small group of unruly skaters, said Christopher Ludwig, a sales associate at The Source Skateboard and Snowboard Shop, which promotes the event locally.

"Almost everyone has a positive attitude, because it only hinders our sport when kids go out and vandalize," he said.

"But when you get a caravan of 300 kids together, it's a coin toss to know what will happen.""

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