He may be 61-years-old, but Barry Blumenthal still had the glint in his eye and the mischievous smile of a teenager as he dipped, flipped and turned along the concrete bowl of the Encinitas Skate Park. “You’re like an old bank robber, right,” Blumenthal said with a laugh, his shoulder-length s pilling out below his helmet. “You can say you’re gonna quit, but eventually you’re gonna rob a bank. So people will say, ‘Oh, I quit skateboarding.’ And then the next time you see them, they’re back.” Blumenthal was one of dozens who gathered on a sun-kissed Saturday to figuratively tip their boards to commemorate the 50th anniversary of March 3, 1976. That’s when Jack Graham and John O’Malley opened California’s first public skatepark in nearby Carlsbad. They didn’t know it at the time, but the park helped turbo-charge the sport and skateboarding culture. Nate Vernia, 23, skates the pool at Poods Skatepark in Encinitas on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Vernia has been skating since he was 6. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) “Before that there was nothing designed and built to skateboard,” Blumenthal said, “We had things like school yards, little quarter pipe ramps we put in our driveways.” When Graham and O’Malley’s park opened, “we had never seen anything like it — concrete waves and the things they designed and built are still showing up in skate parks all over the world,” he said. North County is considered to be the cradle of skateboarding, which has grown from its rough around the edges beginnings into a billion dollar industry where icons like Tony Hawk have become global celebrities. It’s estimated there are about 25,000 skate parks around the globe. Skateboarding has grown to such a degree that it’s now a permanent Olympic sport. It debuted in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and will be part of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Photographer Lance Smith, 75, shoots a skater at Poods Skatepark in Encinitas on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) “It just amazes me because I’ve been there since Day One,” said Lance Smith, a skateboard slalom racer in La Costa from 1975 to 1980 who is also one of the sport’s most recognized photographers. “Back in ’75 and in the 80s, something different was happening every day so when Jack (Graham) and John O’Malley built a skate park, it was wonderful.” Doug Marker of Encinitas was a professional skateboarder between 1977 and 1980, during the sport’s hardscrabble days. He took a few spins Saturday and reflected on how far the sport has come and what still draws him to it. “The funny thing with skateboarding is, once it started, you couldn’t stop it,” he said. “It’s just the mighty Mississippi.” Now retired after working as a construction manager and estimator at San Diego Unified School District, Marker is president of Death Racer 413, a group of young-at-heart skaters in their 50s and 60s. Doug Marker, 64, founder of Deathracer413, skates the pool at Poods Skatepark in Encinitas on Saturday. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) “I’m 64 years old when I park my truck,” Marker said, “but I’m 17 when I walk into the skate park.” Paul Schmitt of Pacific Beach, also known as “The Professor,” is one of skateboarding’s early craftsmen and engineers, who made his first board at age 14. His woodwork designs and innovations helped revolutionize the sport. “It’s amazing that an activity could go through all the challenges it did to now becoming established and part of society,” said the 62-year-old who’s proud to see so many elite skateboarders, to this day, “riding my life’s work.” The 50-year celebration is especially sweet for Henry Hester. Now 74, he’s one of the pioneers of the sport. An inductee to the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in Simi Valley, he started “sidewalk surfing” as a 10-year-old in La Jolla, on a homemade board with steel wheels. Hester didn’t do any skateboarding Saturday but riders and passersby frequently stopped to greet him. “There was a time when we had guys coming from L.A. and we thought, wow, we’ve really expanded,” Hester said. “Now, they’re from all over the globe. You know, the kickflip is a language around the world.” Hilary Kaehler, 47, carves the pool at Poods Skatepark. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Hilary Kaehler of San Diego enjoys the inclusive vibe of skateboarding culture and said the sport got into her blood immediately after she landed her first successful jump at age 10. “Just launching off the sidewalk, landing, it was an exhilarating experience,” the 47-year-old said. “It was probably just adrenaline.” Saturday’s crowd of seasoned skateboarders also included some on the younger end of the spectrum, who expressed appreciation for the time and effort work their predecessors have contributed in the past 50 years. “We are skating because of them, that’s for sure,” said Jaime Mateu, a 30-year-old professional skater originally from Spain who competed in the men’s park event at the Tokyo Olympics. “As you become more familiar with skate history, you realize how important these guys are to the sport itself,” said 23-year-old Nate Vernia. “And without them, the younger kids wouldn’t have the opportunity to have these public skate parks.” ...read more read less