Dropping in with a fun hobby
Lodi man brings love of skateboarding to his new neighborhood
On a handcrafted wooden ramp in a Lodi garage, 8-year-old Manny Lopez grips a bar on the side of it as he carefully attempts to roll from one side of the ramp to the other.
Another boy tries as well, holding himself gingerly atop his skateboard as he practices riding the gentle slope down and back up on the other side.
Just outside the garage, in the dimming light of a late winter afternoon, a 12-year-old boy carefully assembles a dark red skateboard with the text “Killer Instinct” written on it in bold black letters. He holds the wheels on one side as he attempts to fasten them on the other side of the board. The sounds of a drill mix with the clatter and chatter of kids skateboarding nearby.
A man gives a helping hand to the boy, fastening the last screws in place.
“Do you like it?” he asks the boy about the skateboard.
“I do,” the boy answers.
“Well, it’s yours!” the man replies.
The man’s name is Carlos Carrasco, and the boy, Angel Mayorquin, is a neighbor. It’s not the first skateboard Carrasco has given away — he estimates that after a planned giveaway in Stockton this weekend, he will have gifted more than 50 to children in Lodi and neighboring cities.
As a teenager, Carrasco said skating provided an outlet and kept him out of trouble. As the years passed and his young family and work became higher priorities, he found less time for skating. Recently, the family moved from Antioch to Lodi. It was a challenging transition for Carrasco’s daughters Alicia, 12, and Rachel, 11, who had to attend a school across town for the first three months. Once they were finally enrolled at their neighborhood school and started to make friends, the pandemic hit.
Stuck at home and bored, Alicia expressed an interest in skateboarding, unaware that her dad was a former shredder. Carrasco happily filled her in.
“After that, I was a cool dad,” he said with a laugh. “It felt really good.”
Carrasco and the girls started skateboarding at the cul-de-sac on their street. With parking not allowed on the narrow road, it made a perfect place to safely skate. Eventually, other kids took notice and wanted to join in.
Carrasco gathered some old skateboard parts lying around his garage and “Frankensteined” a few boards together and gave them to the kids.
“Their parents were very thankful and brought over a full-on Afghan meal for us,” he said.
With his refurbished skateboards a neighborhood hit, Carrasco turned to some friends who own skate shops. Soon, Wildwood Skateshop and Wicked Wayz in Lodi, Spot Skateshop in Modesto, and Killer Instinct Skateboards, an online store, had joined in the effort and were donating boards and parts. A family member, Mark Alvarez, donated $500 for helmets.
Carrasco’s garage and the local cul-de-sac became gathering spots for the neighborhood kids to safely ride their skateboards.
“I taught them how to use tools and build things that kids don’t really learn these days. I felt like a kid again myself, and it was a good feeling watching them fall and get back up, conquering fears, getting dirty, and being off their electronics,” he said.
After most of the kids in the neighborhood had been outfitted with skateboards, Carrasco spread out to local parks to donate more. He also connected with other skating enthusiasts and together they formed the
Facebook group “Save Souls & Skate Bowls.”
Carrasco is still seeking donations of anything skateboard related.
Alicia has really enjoyed learning how to skateboard and says her favorite trick is the “nose bleed.”
“It’s been really fun. It’s helped to make friends,” she said.
Neighbor Noel Lopez was standing outside her house, watching her son Manny skate back and forth on his new skateboard. The family had also recently moved to Lodi.
“It’s just awesome,” Lopez said of Carrasco sharing his passion and knowledge, adding that skateboarding offered her son an opportunity to get outside and meet new friends at a time when schools are closed.
“Just that is amazing, to be able to get a new community and feel welcome and make new friends.”
Anyone interested in making donations can contact Carrasco at