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Venice Annual Ladies Jam 2017 with Special Guest Appearance by Patti McGee

The Venice Annual Ladies Jam went off at the Venice “Polar Bear” Skatepark on a beautiful Saturday morning this past weekend in the 90291. Ladies of all ages, from locations far and wide, made the trek to this California skate mecca to spend the day by the sea in friendly competition and sisterhood. Friends, family and enthusiastic onlookers surrounded the park four deep at times, to cheer, scream and applaud, as the women carved, grinded and flowed around and over the beachside skatepark. It was a day of soul and grace on four wheels as the girls surf-skated through the Jesse-Martinez-designed snakerun, and found unique lines in the bowls set with tiles paying tribute to the tradition of Dogtown.

Local and global legends came out to support this annual celebration of girls on skateboards, with Jim Gray, the emcee on the mic, and judges, Dennis K Martinez, Earl Okinaka & Steve Wright, front and center poolside. Powell Peralta skateboarding pro and X Games Silver medalist, Jordyn Barratt, showed up to energize the girls with her encouragement, along with Skateboarding Hall of Famer, founder of Girl Is Not a 4 Letter Word, ambassador for women’s skateboarding and author of “It’s Not About Pretty”, Cindy Whitehead. 

Patti McGee, the 1965 Woman’s first National Skateboard Champion, made a special guest appearance, and graciously signed autographs of her interview in the new issue of Juice Magazine #75, for fans of all ages. Haley Villa of Teal Press spent the day in Venice showing her support for her mom, Patti, and all of the skaters in the skate comp. Brandon Wong of SoCal Skate Shop made the drive to LA from down south to show his support for the skateboarding family, while Dogtown legends, Jeff Ho (Zephyr) and Eric “Tuma” Britton (Roll Model Skateboarding), joined Patti at the Juice tent to sign mags and represent the Venice legacy of radical skateboarding and surfing.

The community came out in droves throughout the day to show their love for the ladies, and the girls ripped it up proper. Congrats to Hanna Zanzi for winning the contest and respect to all the girls that competed!

Thanks to Heidi Lemmon, Jeff Greenwood, The City of Los Angeles, Lance Lemond and all the sponsors, for putting together a fun day for all and providing an essential showcase for female skateboarding. Special thanks to photographers: Ken HadaOlga AguilarDan LevyChris Hooten for sharing their shots from this excellent day.

For more photos of the Venice Annual Ladies Jam, please go to:

Girl Is Not A 4 Letter Word with photos by Ian Logan:

http://www.girlisnota4letterword.com/2017/07/the-venice-annual-ladies-jam-was-awesome.html


Note from organizer, Heidi Lemmon...

OG JAM Venice Ladies Day was a blast! Jeff Greenwood will have a post up soon. Cindy Whitehead & Ian Logan Thank You for the great post.! Thank you to our ground crew: Jim Gray awesome on the mic! Judges Dennis K MartinezEarl Okinaka & Steve Wright, Product booth Kimi Kallman, DJ Krza… Glen A Stallings Naugles Tacos Hippie Jump was crazy! Thanks again Cris Dawson.  Legend Patti McGee was in the JUICE MAGAZINE booth signing autographs Dan LevyTerri Craft THANK YOU! X Games Silver medalist Powell-Peralta pro Jordyn Barratt and Element pro Hanna Zanzi winner of Vans us Open last year, were on hand to support the ladies, sign autographs and of course rep their sponsors who were very generous in their support. Thank you Todd LarsonJohnny Schillereff & George Powell! BIG UPS to the City of Los Angeles and Venice Recreation Center for the sponsorship and Lance LeMond, Robert Davis , Victor Jauregui, Fred Ealey and Commissioner Pillar Diaz. Thanks to all the hot shots out supporting Ken HadaOlga AguilarDan LevyChris HootenIan LoganGale WebbDakota Grone and the many more. Sorry if I missed you. I will catch you in our official post later. Thanks everyone for everything!!!!


VENICE ANNUAL LADIES JAM 2017
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VENICE ANNUAL LADIES JAM 2017
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ABOUT PATTI MCGEE:

For those that don’t know, Patti McGee was the first female professional skateboarder and she set the world record for the fastest girl on a skateboard at 47mph during Dick Clark’s World Teen Fair 1964 held at the Orange County (CA) Fair Grounds. She was paid by Hobie/Vita Pak to travel and demonstrate the Hobie skateboard on a national level and, during the tour, Patti appeared on the TV game show What’s My Line? on May 16, 1965 and on The Johnny Carson Show. Patti McGee was featured on the cover of Life magazine May 14, 1965 and the cover of the fourth issue of Skateboarder in October 1965. In 2010, the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) held the “2nd Annual Skateboarding Hall of Fame Honors Six of the Most Influential Skateboarders of All Time.” and Patti McGee was the first female to ever be inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.

Patti is an avid supporter of women’s skateboarding, along with her daughter, Hailey Villa, who founded O.G. Betty Skateboards and Teal Press, an impressive screen-printing conglomerate producing top-notch goods for the skateboarding industry and beyond. Patti McGee is now a proud brand ambassador for Silly Girl Skateboards, a progressive girl-centric skateboarding company that supports the efforts of female skateboarders worldwide. (*Please join Silly Girl Skateboards for a celebration of women’s skateboarding on Aug 5th at the Pink Widow Distribution Grand Reopening from 12-6pm at 601 S. Palm St #A, in La Habra, California.)

As Patti explains, “From a girl’s standpoint, it’s all about the girls. We can’t be catty and we have to be there for each other. It was so competitive when I was 19 or 20. You didn’t give away your tricks. Now you teach them.”

It wasn’t easy to be a pioneer in skateboarding for a woman in the ’60s. Even after winning the 1965 Woman’s first National Skateboard Championships, Patti had to push her way to a revered spot on the Hobie skateboarding team and she shares her story of that journey in the new issue of Juice Magazine.

“I won that contest, and then I took my act and my 8×10 glossy photos to Hobie and said, “I want to be on your team.” I’d actually changed a tire for a lady on the Santa Monica Freeway and she gave me $10, and I went, “Wow! I’m taking that $10 and my plastic gold trophy and my 8×10 glossy photographs and I’m going to go down to Dana Point and I’m going to tell Hobie that I want to ride for him.” As I pulled into the shop at Dana Point at 5 o’clock, Hobie was racing out the door in his suit with his folders and skateboards and all of this stuff in his arms. He said, “I haven’t got time for this.” I said, “But look! I’m the Woman’s National Skateboard Champion and I want to be on your team!” He said, “Can you babysit?”

Despite various roadblocks and the challenges of a road never before traveled, Patti successfully gained a sponsorship with the Hobie team, yet she continued to face an uphill battle as she ventured out alone into the unknown, doing skateboarding demos at department stores all over the country.

“I was told to report the next day to Macy’s Department Store. I said, “Well, how do I get there?” They said, “You go down to the corner and cross the street.” I think I was up on 54th and Lexington. They said, “You go one block and then you take the subway and get off.” I said, “Okay.” I didn’t know where I was going. I get down to the corner in my white Bermuda shorts and my orange Vita-Pakt Hobie top with a skateboard under my arm. I tried to get a cab and I couldn’t and I just stood there and cried. I was like, “What am I going to do?” Finally, somebody got me a cab. They wouldn’t pick me up because there I was, this girl with Bermuda shorts standing on a corner barefoot with a stick with wheels on it.”

Yet Patti never gave up and she relentlessly rolled on to become the first and only skateboarder to ever be honored with a cover of Life magazine. The iconic photograph of Patti’s handstand, seen throughout the world, not only gave legitimacy to skateboarding, it also made Patti a hero of the new skateboarding “craze” that caught fire around the world!

As Patti described the experience, “Then Macy’s department store called me and said, “You won. You won over the Vietnam war and the tsunami in Alaska. It’s going to be you on the cover of Life magazine!” I said, “No way!” I had to hold my breath for a couple of days. It didn’t seem real. I was only 19.”

As you read Patti’s story and get the chance to meet this fearless woman, a single truth should become evident above all others. Women can do anything they set their minds to. Support women’s skateboarding events and see for yourself what women continue to contribute to modern day skateboarding and the sisterhood that runs generations deep.

The Venice Annual Ladies Jam was brought to you by the City of Los Angeles in conjunction with Skate Park Association International. Thank you for coming out and showing your support for the ladies!

PATTI MCGEE interview by STEVE OLSON: The handstand that was for LIFE… MAGAZINE, that is, pretty cool too… Patti McGee, the blonde on the cover from the past into the future… One woman’s stories about how it was to NOW… Life is interesting that’s for sure… Just ask Patti McGee, she’ll tell ya…

https://juicemagazine.com/home/juice-magazine-75-surf-skate-style-edition-features-scott-oster-on-the-cover/

 

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