Skateboarders find a home on Mondays at First Baptist Church

Skateboarders usually have to find their own places to skate. Most places, like the steps of City Hall, officially are off-limits and the police try to keep them away. Some skateboarders travel to cities such as Huntington Beach that have areas open to the public that skaters can use. But every Monday night there is a central area in Anaheim for skateboarders to come and their numbers have been growing every week. They've been coming to the First Baptist Church on Broad way near Citron Street, where the church's parking lot is converted into a skate park, complete with ramps for jumps and benches and rails for grinding. More than skateboarders, ranging in age from 5 to 27, attended on Monday, which featured a contest with prizes such as a new skateboard, supplies and T-shirts. It's a far cry from when the program started six weeks"When we first started out, there were about 10 or so kids here," said Art Garabedian, who the Skate This skateboard a few blocks away. "It's really picked up interest the last few weeks and it continues to keep growing:.''.. Garabedian opened Skate This two months ago. His three sons are all skateboarders. After having to travel out of town to buy clothes and equipment for them, he realized there was a market for a skateboard shop in Anaheim. "We figured that we might as well keep the money in the city," said his wife Bonnie. "We've spent our whole lives in Anaheim and there's a need for something like this." Skateboarders sometimes have a bad reputation because people have misconceptions about what they are doing, said Tim Dye, 17, who works at Skate This. "They think that all, doing is vandalizing," he said, "when really we want a place to skate." The-ramps and rails that are used come from a variety of sources. Some belong to the church, some come from the Garabedian's back yard and others are the leftovers of Mario Martinez, a skateboard promoter who helped organize the program. Youth coordinators from the church help run the skate night. They ask participants to watch their language, but otherwise let them have their freedom to skate. You don't have to belong to the church to skate or even go to church. "It's not really weird to come here," Dye said. "It's just a place to skate." Places to skate have been hard comedy locally. But Bonnie Garabedian said the police have been very receptive about the skate night at the church. "They think it's a great way to get the kids off the street," she said. And as far as the Garabedians are concerned, skating in Anaheim is going to be around for a long time and they are in it for the long haul. "I'm not a skateboarder, but I don't try to pretend with the kids that I am," Art Garabedian said. "But we're going to make most of our business on the tourists so we can always try to do something for these kids in the city."