2002: Crum Still Living Life on Four Wheels
Former pro skateboarder owns skate park
By Chuck Cox | Staff Writer
When Mike Crum saw Marty McFly cruising through the streets of Hill Valley on his skateboard in Back to the Future, he was hooked.
Crum, who went to Highland Park High School through his junior year and was home schooled as a senior, became a professional skateboarder when he was just 16 years old. Now, Crum and Oliver Bradley are co-owners of a private skateboard park in South Dallas, Overground Project, that is hosting an open house at 4 p.m. Sunday.
“Michael J. Fox kicked his board up,” Crum said. “I was like 10 or 11 when I saw that. In the ’80s, skating got kind of big. I went to a skate park at Bachman Lake called Skate Time. We were buying my brother a skateboard, and there were all of these pros out there skating. My mom felt bad, so she bought me a skateboard that day too. I never stopped.”
Crum was still a professional when Park Cities People wrote about him in February 2002. He was living in Long Beach, Calif. — where he met his wife, Bri — and competing all over the world. Crum was once ranked as one of the top 10 “vert” skaters in the world. He also won four X Games medals.
Crum competed professionally until 2007, but his passion for skateboarding was still alive and well. He had started producing skateboard shows in 2003. However, when he met Bradley in 2008, Crum really began getting into producing shows, which he has done at the Long Beach Grand Prix, South by Southwest in Austin, and on a barge outside of AT&T Ballpark before a San Francisco Giants game.
“We were storing our ramps at this one place, and we decided to get our own warehouse,” Crum said. “So we’re like, ‘Why not get a warehouse where we can build some skate stuff?’ And that’s how this [Overground Project] came about.”
Overground Project hosts art shows by local talent, amateur and pro skateboard contests, pro skateboard demos, video premieres, appearances and signings by pro skaters, toy drives, and fundraisers.
“Instead of us doing other people’s events, we do our own events here,” Crum said. “Once a month, we do an open house where we open it to the public. Anybody can come here once a month. Any other time, you have to be a member. What I’m doing here wouldn’t be as big of a deal in California. Some of the top pros in the world were at the event we just did. We’re bringing a really cool scene back to the Dallas skate community.”
Email chuck.cox@peoplenewspapers.com
2002
On April 26, Marian Montgomery’s basset hound, Joy, was killed when the dog touched a live wire near a downed power line in the 4400 block of Fairfax Avenue. Montgomery said she literally saw sparks fly from Joy, whom she tried to save. However, an Oncor repairman held Montgomery back, thereby saving her life.
On April 30, former Highland Park resident John Battaglia received a death sentence for killing daughters Faith, 9, and Liberty, 6, in a Deep Ellum loft. He remains on death row.
On Oct. 3, Park Cities People wrote that a $4.69 million renovation of the Highland Park Department of Public Safety’s headquarters was “going without a hitch” and scheduled to be finished by August 2003. If you’ve been reading our paper lately, you know that project may have underestimated the town’s needs.
CHANGES AT THE TOP
On March 5, Patrick Cates and Roxanne Burleson were hired as the principals of Highland Park High School and Highland Park Middle School, respectively. But Burleson got cold feet within days and was soon replaced by Kimbroloy Pool.
On May 4, William D. White Jr. was elected mayor of Highland Park after running unopposed, and University Park Mayor Harold Peek was elected to a third term without an opponent.
Each city had one non-community- league candidate. Neither won.
On Nov. 5, University Park resident Dan Branch was elected to the first of his five terms in the Texas House.
HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL
Valedictorian: Angela Jillson
Salutatorian: Courtney Campbell
Blanket Award winners: Liza Beasley and Jack Hooper
IDLEWILD DEBUTANTES
Christina Gail Black, Jacquelyn Jayne Black, Shannon Elizabeth Blount, Courtney Elizabeth Campbell, Kearston Grace Everitt, Laetitia Alexandra Nancy Nobilia, Lavie Ashley Ryan Moore, Jacquelin Louise Sewell
