Check out the skater boys and girls

Is skateboarding in vogue again? Or has it run the typical cycle of high-low-high and since been accepted by mainstream and settled into a niche population complete with video games, clothing lines and a table in the cafeteria?

I'm going to venture toward the latter option, but that's OK. It's a stable place to be.

I'll admit it: I've been on a board a few times. I love Tony Hawk's Pro Skater PS2 games.

In college I could kickflip, grind and pull ollie 540s all night long. You should've seen me — in the form of a baggy pantsed "skater chick" on the television screen.

This Sunday, though, a few dozen skateboarding enthusiasts will be doing it live. You can check out tricks like those and see others at the Skate Competition the Cape Girardeau Skate Park downtown.

It's a fenced-in concrete square carpeted with graffiti and spotted with small ramps and rails on Fountain Street about two blocks north of Broadway and right before Old Lorimier Cemetery.

As it is and where it is, the small park gets pelted with Colt 45 bottles almost every weekend. Those who choose to obey the "No Skateboarding" signs plastered almost everywhere else in town have to clean the small park themselves and watch for broken glass between tricks.

That group of kids, and by "kids" I mean people ranging in ages from 9 to 20something, formed the Cape Girardeau Skate Park Association some year or two ago. You can check them out or message them on myspace at www.myspace.com/cgspa.

The group has held weekly car washes and games of skate to raise money for park upgrades. Games of skate are basically War on a deck. One skater does a trick and the other must outdo it. Higher and higher until someone wins.

The skate competition this weekend is a big one complete with judges and awards.

Last year CGSPA brought in Eduardo Craig, a professional rider from California. They didn't manage to get anyone famous this year, but if you show up you just might see someone who someday will be famous.

This grassroots effort recently got a little more professional. After being runaround with lost papers and clerical mishaps, they finally achieved 501c3 status. Now donations are tax deductible. Anybody wanna buy a half pipe? It's a write off.