I’m back in my home state of Michigan to attend the MRA (Midwest Reps Association) snow show. The winter weather and scenery is cold and grey as usual, which are two of the reasons I'm happy to no longer live in this state. I will be happy to see many of my old friends at this show. Even though I have been gone for five years, I still feel very close to many of the reps, shop owners, and riders from up here. It will be great to see them again.

Yesterday I did get the opportunity to meet with George Leichtweiss of Modern Skate and Surf. He gave me tour of the building he's planning to purchase for his new skate park in Detroit. It's huge! Four acres huge! It will triple the size of his old Novi location (the old Vans skate park). I can’t wait for it to officially open.

My meeting with George wasn't for the tour, but to gather info about the AGA. I can’t officially talk about it yet, but he's the "Czar of Skate" for the Board Retailers Association (I don’t know his official title with BRA. Czar just sounded cool.) He's working on something really cool -- a tour or traveling grassroots skate contest series for the amateur skaters designed to promote skating and local skate shops. Stay tuned or join the BRA for more info.