Harold Hunter Day will be fittingly held at the newly revamped Coleman Oval Skatepark on Manhattan's Lower East Side Saturday, Oct. 13 from 1-5 p.m. 5Boro founder, Harold Hunter Foundation Board Member and one of the facilitators of the park's refurbishment, Steve Rodriguez, stated that Hunter would have been stoked on the park, saying, "Although the streets were his official "skatepark" Harold was raised in the L.E.S. and would have liked nothing better than a legit skatepark in his hood. Harold was a people person and I'd always see him swing by the Tompkins Square TF (training facility), which was basically a skatepark for a while, chill with the homies, skate and then break out. I know he would be doing the same at the new LES Park."
Professional skateboarder Harold Hunter was one of a kind and all the clichés apply when you're talking about Hunter -- they broke the mold when he was made. Positive, hilarious, and generous, Hunter was the first person to befriend me when I moved to New York City in the early 90s and over the years I've met a lot of people with the same story, because he was an enthusiastic ambassador for New York City and for skateboarding. New York skateboarding stalwart and member of the Harold Hunter Foundation's Advisory Board, Alex Corporan sums up Harold's magnetic charisma eloquently, "Harold loved every one and opened the doors of the Lower East Side back in the days. If you knew him you had an automatic key to his world."
Established in 2006 after Hunter's untimely passing, the Harold Hunter Foundation's mission has been to help kids through skateboarding. The Foundation's Director of Programs, Jessica Forsyth explains, "Skateboarding brought Harold incredible opportunities to travel to places and meet people he never would have otherwise. The HHF strives to use skateboarding as a vehicle to provide kids like Harold with similar opportunities. Harold spent many joyful summers at Woodward, so sending HHF kids to Woodward was a natural place to start. The Woodward and Element scholarship program is just the beginning of what we hope will be many initiatives to expand NYC kids' horizons, help them to experience the world and make connections through skateboarding."
To raise money for their goal of providing 25 scholarship opportunities, the Harold Hunter Foundation will be selling a limited edition t-shirt at the event, and for supporters who can't make it there will be a small number of shirts available online at airwalk.com and at the SHUT store in Manhattan.
Hunter's family, friends and the New York skateboarding community link up for this annual event to reminisce and commemorate a remarkable individual with an insatiable lust for life. Corporan puts it best, "Harold Hunter Day is a day of togetherness where people from various boroughs, states and even countries come out to skate and bring the energy that Harold always brought -- the feeling of having a great time with great friends no matter what your circumstance is." Join Hunter's friends and family this Saturday along with sponsors Airwalk, Zoo York, Supreme, Monster Energy and many more, for a skate jam, best trick contest, product give-away and skate videos produced by kids via "Kickflip Project" under the Manhattan Bridge.
