About The Tally Am-Jam

What is The SK850 Tally Am-Jam?
The SK850 Tally Am-Jam is an annual fun filled, family event, held in Tallahassee, FL. at Tallahassee’s Mike Blankenship Skate Park. It includes 3 group divisions of skateboarding contests, food, refreshments, music, raffles, prize giveaways and fundraising activities to benefit Tallahassee’s Friends of Our Parks Foundation (FOOP).

When:
Saturday October 1st 2011
• Registration Begins at 9:00 AM
• Contests begin at 10:00am

Where:
Tallahassee’s Mike Blankenship Skate Park
Between James Messer Fields and TalTran Administrative Offices
Located on Jackson Bluff Road at Appleyard Drive

Event Contacts:
Funky Planet SK850
Hernan Nova
email: hernan@shopfunkyplanet.com
call: 850-727-8363

Donations:
Funky Planet SK850
Attn: 2011 Tally Am-Jam
1500 Apalachee Parkway #1490
Tallahassee, FL 32301

Please make checks payable to Friends of Our Parks Foundation (FOOP).

WHERE DO THE FUNDS GO?
All proceeds raised will go directly to The Friends of Our Parks Foundation (FOOP). The money raised from this year’s event will be used for building an addition onto the existing skate park for a Junior Skater area for younger participants in the community and if enough money is raised, a skate-able picnic table obstacle for the main skate park area.

ABOUT THE MIKE BLANKENSHIP SKATEPARK:
The Mike Blankenship Skate Park is a public, state-of-the art, 26,000 square foot facility designed to provide maximum enjoyment and challenge for all who utilize it. It boasts a five foot deep pool with a roll down to nine foot. There are numerous rolled lip areas for all level skaters to use, including two above wall extensions, flat banks, raised transitions and other features to challenge all skaters. The facility is the result of efforts by local skateboarders and members of the local Skaters’ Union led by chair Dave Wilcox who worked with Parks and Recreation Department staff to select the site at the James Messer Sports Complex.

Sparked by the efforts of Mayor Scott Maddox, $100,000 was allocated for this facility and support was secured from a local builder, Blankenship Contracting, Inc., to assist in the development. Additional contributions to this preliminary effort were made by Sean Weiner and Russ Landry of SCALES. Mike Blankenship, representing the Contractors Association of Tallahassee, lined up Karen Bass and Rick Moore from Moore Bass Consulting to provide the construction drawings. James Hendricks, lead designer for Team Pain Enterprises, a nationally known skate park design company, designed the skate park with input from local skaters. Tim Payne, the owner of Team Pain, has received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his “pioneering spirit and innovative ideas” in designing and building over 100 skate parks worldwide, including those used for the ESPN X-Games each year.

City of Tallahassee Parks and Recreation and Streets and Drainage Division crews along with Blankenship Contracting employees built the Skate Park. The Streets and Drainage Division paved the parking lot. These efforts, along with additional community support enabled the City to stretch their original $100,000 allocation into what is now a $400,000 facility.

This support included donations by: Bob McRee, U.S. Filter; Ken Claybaugh, Ken’s Concrete Pumping; Carl Carroll, Carroll & Son Welding & Fabrication; Bobby Garrett, L.B. Smith, Inc.; Hal Slade and Tommy Slay, Flint Equipment; Sonny Corbin, Consolidated Pipe & Supply, Inc.; Derrick Crum, Jackson Cook; Skip McElhenny, Hanson Pipe; Lin Mitchell, The Blue Print Shop; Allen Platt, A.D. Platt & Associates; Ted Gerrell, Ring Power; and Rodney Lawrence, Tallahassee Ford New Holland.

WHAT ARE FUTURE PLANS FOR THIS EVENT?
With continued support from the local community, Funky Planet SK850 and the City of Tallahassee, has the hope of making The SK850 Tally Am-Jam an annual event that will bring recognition to the Tallahassee area as a premier skating contest event for the US East Coast Skateboarding scene and provide a yearly fundraiser for continued growth and upkeep of the Tallahassee Mike Blankenship Skate Park.