i typically don't get all tied up in this New Year bullshit. Watching people in a drunken stupor pretend they are going to eat better this year, or start brushing their teeth twice a day, or claiming that this will be the year they follow their dreams doesn't really do it for me. They just wake up hung over and start the year feeling like shite because they forgot the effect that their New Year partying had on them last year. But as this holiday season comes to a close i am finding myself particularly reflective. Not so much because i need to change out the free calendar i get from the local Chinese food restaurant every year, but because i am finding myself able to come up for air after a very successful holiday run at the shop that i am incredibly thankful for. Long's Board Shop has been open for not quite two years now and i am absolutely amazed at some of the things we've accomplished to date, especially so early in our little shop's life.
At this time we are carrying all of the skate and snow brands that i had ever wanted to carry. Obviously this will always be an ever changing thing as skating and snowboarding progresses, but to be able to look around the shop and see all these companies that are pushing their respective art forms, all these companies that are making such incredible and creative goods, and to see all these brands that you can count on, not fly by night companies looking for quick cash and not huge corporations just exploiting the industries for monetary gain. i can say that i am proud to carry the brands that we do and stand behind them. i love that in skateboarding and snowboarding there are still so many companies still in it for the love of it, even as these actives continue to grow in popularity. On a personal note i also still get excited at the fact that i now have a relationship with these companies that i have ridden and skated over the years. i'm still such a geek boy.
At just under two years i am also completely amazed by all of you. In only twenty months i have watched people who started as customers become people i now call friends. i'm still getting to know some of you better, and every day i am meeting new people as word continues to spread about what we are trying to do as a shop. i am humbled and ever grateful that so many of you have made us a part of your lives. My dreams could not have come true if so many of you had not helped share those dreams, and more importantly the love we all share for skateboarding and snowboarding. i have done many things, been part of many scenes and teams and clubs and more but nothing, nothing has ever compared to how incredible skateboarders and snowboarders are - which is why for so long i have dreamt of opening our shop. These art forms helped me find myself as a child and continue to help me center myself as an adult.
Sarah and i feel honored to have been a part of so many of your Christmases. It is such an special time of the year and we appreciate that we could be a part of so many of your celebrations and Christmas mornings. i know how excited i get about a new set-up or getting that piece that i really wanted, so to be able to be the place where you could (and can) get those things means something special to me. Far beyond any financial accomplishments our shop may have is the absolute, unadulterated joy i get in seeing someone get totally stoked on something they just bought at our shop. Seeing the smile on someone's face after their first day on the slopes riding a rocker shape, the excitement in someone's voice after getting a set of wheels that gripped just right at the indoor park for their winter escapes, and the bliss that only comes from finding a pair of skate shoes that just feels right. These things will never get old.
We need to make money to keep our doors open but getting to hang out with all of you, getting to do what we can to help the local skate and snow scenes, and providing a comfortable space for ALL who enjoy skateboarding and snowboard is really why we do this. A huge thank you from Long's Board Shop to all who have helped us out, all who have shared our dream, all who have shopped with us, all who have come to our events, all the companies and reps who work with us, and to our team skaters and rider. Here's to living out your dreams and hopes of never waking up.
-tom