Afternoon traffic in downtown Aiken took on a different look for a few minutes Saturday, with help from a youthful crowd from around the CSRA, in observance of National Go Skateboarding Day.
Laurens Street, between Park Avenue and Barnwell Avenue was the scene for a caravan of skateboarders with an Aiken Department of Public Safety escort. Organization was courtesy of Bo Mitchell, known as both an actor (with the nickname of "Hollywood") and as the owner of HICWarehouse, an indoor skateboard park and shop in Aiken.
Mitchell's crew, after its downtown lap, headed to his business for an afternoon of free skating.
The idea, Mitchell said, was largely "to show how skateboarding can bring people together over any type of language barrier, racial barrier, age barrier or anything like that; and just have fun and have a good time and also to spread awareness that skateboarders are good people, just like everyone else. We're not here to tear something up or hurt anybody."
Skateboarder Nathan Seay, 13, of Aiken, was among those visiting downtown and the skate park. Offering some advice for newcomers to the sport, he said, "If you can't land a certain trick, keep trying until you can get it, because you're not going to get it the first time ... I didn't. It took me a year to get as good as I am now."
Also in on the action was Ashton Culbreth, 12, of Augusta. He commented, "Today is pretty much about trying to be able to skate without getting in trouble."