Custom Skateboard Shop Benefits From New Park

Mike Dunkley is bringing the joy of skateboarding to Middletown.

Dunkley opened his skateboarding shop, 100 Black Shadows, about three months ago. His shop is located inside his mom’s gift shop at 80 Ferry St. She came to him with the idea about him opening a skateboard shop within her shop, he said.

The brand-new 135-square-foot Willie Pep skateboard park at the corner of Green Street and DeKoven Drive, which is right around the corner from his shop, has helped bring kids into the shop, Dunkley said.

Dunkley is trying to get children involved in the business of skateboarding.

In mid-July he began skateboarding classes for children two to three hours a couple times a week. It won’t always be the same location though, Dunkley said.

The classes are to show the kids how to do the basics from how to start, to gain speed or to reduce speed.

He wants children to get involved with skateboarding to keep them out of trouble. When parents mention skateboarding is dangerous, Dunkley has said, so is walking across the street.

Dunkley is also planning on starting a skateboarding team to compete against other skateboard shops. One person he wants on his team is a 10-year-old skateboarder.

“He is gifted,” Dunkley said. “He does stuff that I can’t even do.”

Dunkley met this gifted youngster when he came into the shop with his older bother. Other kids look up to him and Dunkley admits that this 10-year-old has even taught him a few skating tricks.

“The sky’s the limit to what these kids can do if they start at a young age,” Dunkley said.

When he started skateboarding, all boards were the same. These days there are different boards and board sizes.

“When I started my shop, the first thing I wanted to do was to create different skateboards,” Dunkley said.

Dunkley said he can put anything from a favorite movie character to a picture of a person’s mom on a skateboard.

Skateboarding allows people from all walks of life to come together to skate, Dunkley said. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor or from a different country. If you have a skateboard, you can join in, he said.

“The one good thing I brought from skateboarding and the thing that kept me skating was that it didn’t matter where you are from,” Dunkley said.

Check out Dunkley’s website, http://www.boardpusher.com/100blackshadows. For more information about the skateboarding team, classes or his products, email him at military.shadow@yahoo.com.

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