Cole Brooks, Joe Adams, Sam Brooks, Ben Adams decorate their creation
Necessity is the Mother...
September 12, 2003
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By: Stephen Kent

A bright, late summer day found four budding skateboard engineers hard at work building their latest invention: a long board. Built from a four foot long board and some old skateboard trucks, the board performed a lot like a snowboard.
When asked about the project, Ben Adams said "I jumped too hard on my old board and it broke. So I took the wheelsoff and used them to make this board." It seems that Necessity is still the Mother of Invention.

Close inspection showed that the "trucks" were attached by nails pounded through the board and bent over on the back. Sam Brooks said "we didn't have any screws but this worked ok." And work it did. They boys demonstrated with a roll down the street.
The painting project became a work of abstract art. When paint got on the wheels the boys tested each one to insure that they continued to roll smoothly.
In this day of computer games and endless TV, it was very refreshing to see youngsters outside,in the fresh air, inventing and experimenting and building their own creations. One hundred years ago a couple of bicycle mechanics launched themselves into the air. One hundred years from today we may look back at this skateboard as the beginning of some other great adventure.
Stephen Kent
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Steve Kent and his family have lived in Bay City for 40 years. He is VP of Technical Services at MMCC which produces MyBayCity.Com. Kent is active in many Bay City civic organizations.
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