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Local 209 Skaters Union.

In a time when skateboarding is being strangled by huge corporations and cities are fighting with all their might against funding for public skateparks, the Local 209 Skaters Union is on a mission to provide a means to help skateboarding thrive as a backyard sport; a place governed by skateboarders for skateboarders.

The purpose of these initial t-shirt sales will be to raise $10,000 to build a professional concrete bowl at the home of the founder of Local 209, Matt Moose, in Modesto, CA. After the bowl is complete they will hold an annual event and continue to sell products to raise funds to support other backyard projects in our area. The funds may also be used to purchase skateboards for local kids who cannot afford them.

Matt Moose

I asked Matt to give a quick back story on the Local 209 and this is what he had to say…

The whole thing started in the winter of ’99 while the nights started early, along with early drinking at the bar and playing shuffle board. We already had good crew of dudes in the Modesto area, but I wanted to have a name per say… to make us all have something common to hold onto, other than just the skateboard. As the Local 209 Skaters Union, we now had a common bond that said it didnt matter how you skated, what you liked to skate, what you listened to, etc … pretty much how you lived your life was your decision, but we all worked toward a common goal… improving the skate scene in our area, and standing together as brothers.

Over the years I had printed shirts and stickers and handed them out all pretty much made in the living room and with whatever money or materials where at hand. The idea has always stayed strong all these years, but just lately I bought my house and have decided to build a bowl, kinda like Lance Mountain’s or something like it.

This sparked a new idea (not new to the world, but new to us) to sell goods that gets everyone involved far and near, and for people that have never had the opportunity to be a part of the Local 209. By selling shirts (and other things in the future) our goal is to raise funds to help build our bowl and possibly start other build projects in the area; ie vert ramp, back yard flow stuff, skatepark additions… you get the idea. Community togetherness of a sub-culture community kinda thing. We can’t wait for our broke city counsels to do it for us, so we decided to take it back to the backyard and do it our way.

I have collected enough money that the shirts are all paid for and the rest we sell will be money in the kitty. Every month we be offering new items and hopefully this will keep people coming back and keep the stoke up . Just last night, I sold 4 shirts to make 80 bucks and turned around and donated that $80 to The Ranch (Frank Faria’s ramp) for future improvements and also their upcoming Raise Hell #5 party on the 28th of May. That’s the kind of togetherness I’m trying to get everyone else to be on board with. Support us and you will benefit from us supporting you!

If you would like to support the Local 209, you can purchase shirts here: http://local209skatersunion.bigcartel.com/

For more information, check out the Local 209 blog here: http://theskatersunion.blogspot.com/

Matt Moose

Photos by MRZ