Skateboarding tour stops in Bonners Ferry

The Yousta Storytellers Club is presenting the Panhandle Invasion Skate Tour this weekend.

The tour is set to appear at the Bonners Ferry Skate Park at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 14. 

The tour will visit Coeur d’Alene on Friday and Lewiston on Saturday, before making the third and final stop in Bonners Ferry. 

The tour is sponsored by Hopper Skateboards, Curbology, Boundary County Skatepark Alliance and Pistole Board Shop. Organizer Jason Olsen is the owner of Yousta Storytellers Club, a skateboarding brand that was started by older skateboarders. Olsen also used to live in Bonners Ferry. 

The event features amateur skaters Jpat Budig, Dan Eastman, Crue Manzer, Dan Franklin, Brady Wickett, Marty Collyer, and Christian Davey, and pro skater Brad Pichler. Collyer, who is also from Bonners Ferry, helped to build the Bonners Ferry Skatepark. 

The tour stop will be a fun-filled time with food, drinks and demonstrations. 

The goal of the tour is to raise awareness for youth skateboarding, Olsen said.

. "A quality skatepark is vital to a community, fostering recreation, youth engagement, and a sense of belonging while promoting physical activity, skill development, and ensuring a safe environment for skaters of all ages,” Olsen said regarding the youth and the skatepark. 

The Boundary County Skatepark Alliance is a volunteer skatepark advocacy group working to provide a safe, well-lit and well-kept wheeled action sports facility that the entire community can be proud of. The group is waiting on the first round of skatepark designs and will be at the fair this year to show them off.

Admission is free, but donations are accepted. 

Information: bcskateparkalliance@gmail.com