Living in a small town, I benefitted so much from having an early Grindline park built nearby. It's where I met people who are my best friends 15 years later.
Stories about Monk, Red, Rabbi, etc., were like currency to us, the stories were so unbelievable. The first time Hubbard showed up at the park, carrying an iPod and a guitar speaker blasting Geto Boys, I was too scared to talk to him. My friend jumped off the bench and said, "Hey, are you Monk?" and they shook hands. My friend reported later that Monk's hand shake was kinda weak no idea if that was true or if my friend was showing off.
By the end of the day he invited our whole crew to skate the West Seattle bowls, and we were not "cool." We were awkward small town teenagers; some of us thought we were hip hop, or punk rockers. Some were homeschooled. I wore a helmet and we were all just weirdos. When we showed up, it was like looking through a window into another world. That was a really cool thing for him to do. I'll pitch in for sure because I know I would be a different person without him. We all would be every hot young kid can skate transitions now and I'm not sure that would be the case without Hubbard and Red.