The Dart: Vidalia classmates spend free time perfecting skateboarding tricks, teaching newbies

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 31, 2005

VIDALIA, La. &045; Roaming the streets of Vidalia and Natchez are a group of teens who defy gravity on a regular basis &045; and they’re teaching others how to do it, too.

Meet Andrew Campbell and John Woods. On Sunday afternoon the two &045; a junior and freshman, respectively &045; were hanging out at the corner of Texas and Magnolia streets.

There they were teaching a fellow Vidalia High student, 10th grader Cortney Sanders, the art of skateboarding.

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Campbell has been skating for one-and-a-half years; Woods, for two years.

&uot;Me? Two hours,&uot; Sanders said, adding that the others are the skating veterans.

Campbell took off for the middle of the street, with Woods calling out moves. &uot;Do a super kick flip Š Do an ultra flip!&uot;

Woods said. Campbell gave him a &uot;give me a break&uot; face, then performed a couple of real moves, jumping in the air as the board did a flip beneath him, then landing on the face-up board and rolling away.

Then Sanders tries, with Woods giving him pointers. &uot;Kick the board, flip it and then jump over it,&uot; Woods said, getting mixed results from a hard-working Sanders.

&uot;There’s a higher ledge at Billie’s, and we can do more stuff there,&uot; Campbell said with an almost apologetic tone to his voice.

But then he figured out a way to top himself even on that flat surface.

&uot;Y’all get close together and let me jump you,&uot; Campbell said.

Lying side by side, Woods and Sanders lay on their backs, completely still.

&uot;How many times have you done this?&uot; a visitor asked. &uot;I’ve done with one (person) before, but never two,&uot; Campbell said.

Before his volunteers had a chance to reconsider, Campbell built up speed, then jumped over both of them and landed on the board on the other side, speeding away.

Will Sanders get up to speed?

If he practices enough, sure, Woods said. &uot;It takes a couple of weeks,&uot; Woods said, &uot;but he’ll get it.&uot;