    
Miami Beach, FL - March 29, 1999
The Diversity Tour kicked off its Florida leg in unbelievable fashion this past weekend in sunny Miami Beach, Florida. To call this event awesome would be an understatement! In the minds of many skaters who attended, this was the best event of all time, Am or Pro. Keep reading to find out why this weekend was a true "Festival of the Rolling Soul".
This past weekend, the Miami Beach Sports and Fitness Festival hosted one of the most influential skating events of our time. Skaters from up and down the East Coast descended southward towards the beautiful sands of South Beach. The setting was perfect for what was to come. To try and write down my thoughts in regular recap format would not do justice to what I experienced. The only way to truly express what happened would be to write it in journal form.
Robert Arias attempts to land an alley-oop 360 over the start box rail
during the best trick contest. Can you say BIG???
Monday, March 22nd
As we started to assemble the street course, we noticed something different immediately upon our arrival. We were greeted by the local "South Beach" welcoming committee, a group of about 8 or 10 inline skaters waiting and ready to help with set up. Funny thing is, I don't think there was one kid over the age of 15 in the whole group, and none were there looking for free product. They were actually excited with anticipation about the contest 4 days before it! I don't know why, but there is something truly special about watching little Juan Pedro trying to help carry ramps 4 times his size.
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Little Scotty McHugh rides the vert ramp for the first time. Not bad for a little guy!
Tuesday, March 23rd
After beginning the piecing together of the course, it's evident that this will definitely be a hot weekend. Surprisingly, at exactly 3:15 on the dot, all of our volunteers made a beeline from school straight to the site. Wow, these kids are serious! When the vert ramp arrived in the afternoon, all the kids became even more excited with the prospect of actually riding one of the 12 foot monsters they had only seen on TV before. Jesse Rush made a comment that summed it all up. "Jay, this comp has everything!" That's what Diversity is all about.
Wednesday, March 24th
With the street course complete, and the vert ramp being erected before our eyes, the time we had all been waiting for was here. Time to paint the course!!! Bob Gollwitzer and I took the ride to Home Depot to pick out the colors that will be etched in our memories. (Bob, I cannot lie to you any longer. When you left the counter, I changed our order to a darker shade of blue. Sorry, but the paint guy talked me into it.) Once again, our volunteers arrived as planned, and we all got down and dirty blue. As we made our way across the plywood floor, there was a certain buzz in the air. We all realized that the efforts we had put in for the past 2 months were turning into something very beautiful, and something very blue!!! Everyone pitched in and received numerous coats of blue and yellow all over their bodies.
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