This Saturday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., many Athens residents will flock to Devil’s Kettle, located on 97 Columbus Road, for the fifth annual Skate Jam Spring event. The event brings people looking to connect with friends, listen to live music and watch skaters flip and glide along the rails, boxes and ramps.
Skate Jam was created during the COVID-19 pandemic by Emmett Mascha and Andrea Baird, along with a friend. Mascha explained he and Baird are still the “chief organizers” behind the project, and their mission is to raise funds to improve and repair the Athens Skate Park, which many students and community members utilize daily.
Mascha said he began skating when he was in 3rd or 4th grade and picked up the hobby because his babysitter did it, which he thought was “so cool.”
“I’ve been doing it ever since,” Mascha said. “Now I don’t think I play as hard as I used to, having to worry about things like insurance and work, but it’s still really fun to get out there.”
Mascha said he likes how Skate Jam is fun, entertaining and also supports the community in many ways. Donations of $10 to $15 are suggested, and Skate Jam merch will be sold, as well as Devil’s Kettle beer and food from Devil Dog’s food truck.
Mascha said he can’t recall if Devil’s Kettle brewmaster Cameron Fuller reached out or if they did, but when they connected, Mascha realized having a smaller fundraiser event during the school year would get people excited for the big fall Skate Jam.
Mascha said Fuller, Baird and he have a good relationship, and Fuller takes his kids to the Skate Jams at the Athens Skate Park.
The previous jams were all hosted by the non-profit Sojourners, who Mascha said had experience with the “non-profit world” as well as strong connections with volunteering.
Mascha said Baird worked for them at the resiliency center on 5 N. Shafer St., which he said is a great place for at-risk youth to drop in and receive care.
“Skate Jam would partner with them, and half the money from the big event would go toward the resilience center and half would go toward repairs to the Athens Skate Park,” Mascha said. “They’ve been great, they were super trusting and open, even in the early years, and we’ve actually recently parted ways with them. The recent government has kind of forced them to tighten their rope, especially on unrestricted funds, and they’re on MacArthur.”
Mascha said it will take a lot more than a couple of bumps in the road to keep people from the Skate Jams, as people enjoy participating and spectating. Due to the transitional period in working to find another non-profit host or create another solution, the Skate Jam live music lineup has been delayed.
The lineup and set times were still being determined on March 30, when Skate Jam’s official Facebook page posted the event for the public.
Mascha said they feel bad about this, as they like to get the lineup out ahead of time for those who live farther away to plan. However, Mascha said he will not only be skating at the event, but also performing in his punk rock band, Wake.
“What I can say is, in the midst of trying to fill the lineup, I called some of my old friends and got an old band back together,“ Mascha said. "I will be performing on Saturday, which I have not done in about a year, so I'm stoked about that. We're also returning, or having returned, to the Stuart’s Opera House After School Music program bands, and they're always a riot. They rip and they're so young and cool.”
Along with these confirmed bands, Colin Richards and Spare Change are set to perform, as well as The Fotons, who Mascha said are “cool as hell.”
Mascha said there will be an afterparty at The Smiling Skull Saloon, located on 108 W. Union St., which doubles as a memorial metal show for one of Mascha’s good friends who passed away.
Jonas Hoelzle, a senior studying nursing, has been involved in Skate Jam since his freshman year. He said he started to volunteer for all of its events, and even worked for Baird and Mascha, doing things like painting houses.
Hoelzle said he knows everybody who skates in Athens and said he enjoys how the community comes together with these types of events.
“It's just a good place to meet people, get in touch with your local community and the people who live around you,” Hoelzle said. “But I think it's something that doesn't happen as much anymore, sadly. But Athens, actually, I think does a pretty good job of that in general.”
Nic Perry, a junior studying field ecology, has been participating in Skate Jam since high school, and said he would drive from Columbus to Athens to participate with his friends.
Now Perry helps out behind the scenes, moving ramps and setting up before the jams, and said he always skates in the deep end competition during the fall jam.
To prepare for his skate competitions at the fall and spring events, Perry said he goes to the skate park with his friends, as well as skates on the ramps at the Ohio University basketball courts.
“If you come out, make sure to buy some beer from the brewery,” Perry said. “The recommended donation … that goes back into making this all happen.”
