Jen's history with skateboarding

My name is Jennifer Stewart and I am the president of the Clinton County Skatepark Association. I fell in love with the sport of skateboarding back in 1987. I was in the seventh grade and was the only girl skateboarder in the tri-state area. I had to join the boy scouts to be on the insurance to be able to skate the ramps at the one and only skateshop for miles around, "Ohio Surf and Skate" aka "Surf Ohio". Skateboarding gave me the opportunity to meet many skaters throughout the years. I met Tony Hawk at the Ohio State Fair, he signed my Surf Ohio t-shirt. Rob Dyrdek, Bill Danforth, Mike Hill, and several others from the G&S Team would come to my house to skate on my halfpipe. I was very fortunate growing up. I had a very creative dad and a very tolerant mother. They both knew the importance of teaching us how to have fun without the use of drugs and alcohol. My backyard consisted of a 6' half pipe that quickly grew into a 6' spine with a 3' hump. There were also 4' and 7' extensions. My treehouse slept 2 comfortably, had a "Tarzan Rope", a swinging bridge, and a zip line. The treehouse occupied 3 separate trees and the zip line stopped at the skateboard ramp. We also had a trampoline that connected to the deck around our swimming pool. We would always have kids at the house. My backyard WAS the skatepark of southern Ohio. We would have youth groups come to our house. There were always people at our house even when we weren't home. Then in the 90's skateboarding took a dive. No one was skateboarding. I started college in 1992, and when I came home my dad had torn down my ramp. I was devastated. Then in 1993, my sister was diagnosis with non-hodgkins Lymphoma at age 23. Then in 1996, My childhood home burnt to the ground. In 2001, I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer at the age of 27. In 2006, I was sitting in my garage with a few of my friends on a beautiful sunny summer day and it came to me to start the Clinton County Skatepark Association and give my community something that was so beneficial, so awesome, so incredible for me as a youth. I am so passionate about this cause. You are only young once. Life is so unpredictable, it can be SO good, but it can also be SO bad. Skateboarding is incredible exercise, and it takes incredible skill to be able to do it.