Lonnie Toft Board:
Mt. Vernon, KY Fall 1978
"Ahh yes!!!!! The dream board! Even though the people of Rockcastle County Kentucky didn’t skate, I still had the hope that somewhere within a day’s drive a skatepark would open up. With that in mind and money again from working at a swimming pool in Harlan, KY during the summer of 1978, I ordered the Lonnie Toft board from Skateboarder Magazine for I think it was right around $80-90. Bennett Trucks with ½ “risers! Nice and strong. I remember an advertisement for them. Said they could take 2200 lbs of downward force before breaking. Again… I had to have those Sims Pure Juice wheels. Those big red monsters would roll overthe worst bowl lips and coping. Mr Drag plywood kicktail protector. Had to have that to gain the utmost control with all those tailtaps I was going to do at the top of the bowl. The nylon kicktail protectors were too slippery. I also picked up a white Cooper hockey helmet to protect my skull and Norcross knee and elbow pads and some thick leather work gloves. On the underside of the board I put a WKQQ sticker, my favorite radio station out of Lexington, KY that played heavy metal. I was living in Rockcastle County so I had to have a Rockcastle County High School “Rockets” sticker and my favorite trucks were “Bennetts” and I had to have that sticker too! Tastefully decorated and 3M grip tape to keep my Converse Hightops from slipping off the deck, I was ready! Well, no skatepark found it’s way to Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati, or Knoxville that I knew of during the 80’s.
One thing though held over from days spent slalom boarding. The fun of going downhill. The hills in Rockcastle County were steeper and there were long runs with some good curves built in. The Toft board was quite stable in this environment. The little Bahne board with those high Rad Pad risers couldn’t take the speed. “Speed Wobbles” were a problem with it. The Toft with the Bennett trucks and lower risers was great on steeper hills.
The Toft board was ridden downhill a lot in my neighborhood and in Mt. Vernon through town and was used also to get to and from marching band practice/band camp at Rockcastle County High School. This board also spent time doing downhill runs in Harlan, County Kentucky. Harlan is my hometown. I would go back to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This board did some downhill runs in a subdivision called Browning Acres outside of Harlan and Terrys Fork Road in Wallins Creek, KY. This board also followed me to Berea College in August 1981 and got me to classes and I rode some of the service roads around the College. Once again though when College was done, the board was not ridden often.
I kept the boards. After school I got married and had two wonderful children with my wife Vivian. Nathan my son, who is autistic, and my daughter NunnaBeth never developed an interest in skating. They saw the boards stored in a closet and asked about them. I asked if they would like to try but they didn’t express an interest. The Toft board represents a dream that never came to pass. To go vertical! To experience that wonderful microsecond of weightlessness when you loose speed at the top of the bowl and come to a complete stop and flip that 180 with a one wheeler, tailtap, or catch air to come back down! The Toft board also represents adaptation. If you can’t skate a park, wind through your hair and taking a hairpin curve at speed on a downhill run also gives the same adrenaline rush! With that in mind it is time to pass these 45 year plus old boards on to someone that is more of a diehard skater than me or a collector that wants to preserve boards that have been used to bring fun, joy, and fellowship of friends. These boards should not remain in a closet."
-Andy Noe
