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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2003 8:43 pm
by Jani Soderhall
This is just a note to say thank's to Howard for helping me out with the Russian sponsorship deal that we have been working on over the last couple of weeks.

Howard has generously supplied equipment that I will bring to the Russian skaters, primarily in St Petersburg, but also in other Russian cities (Saratov, Moscow) in an effort to stimulate the local scenes there.

I am planning up to three trips to St Petersburg in the coming months, and I will fill up my suitcase as much as I can for each trip.

A batch of equipment will also be supplied to the Latvian slalom team through Gints Gailitis, the president of the Latvian Skateboard Association and a long time ISSA representative. These guys have started planning for European participation this summer, most likely in Gruningen, but maybe also in other places. These guys are strong, so their return to contests will be good for the overall level of European racing.

Thank you Howard for your support!

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2003 5:18 am
by John Gilmour
Howard- you rock!

Coolest thing ever. :smile:

Posted: Thu May 01, 2003 11:56 pm
by Adam Trahan
HG, you are truly an ambassadour to the sport of slalom skateboarding.

I appreciate your support in growing the sport.

Thank you!

Posted: Thu May 01, 2003 11:59 pm
by Vlad Popov
Oops, took the post off for editing. Sorry, Adam.


And the post was:

Jani unloaded more Turner wheels in Moscow! They were much needed there. Can I kiss you, Howard?

Vlad.
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There is no signature at this moment, just a say-no-to-tobacco smoking smiley.



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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Vlad Popov on 2003-05-01 18:00 ]</font>

Posted: Fri May 02, 2003 9:28 pm
by Andrew Muzikin
Dear Howard,

Your wheels have finally made it to Moscow. The impact of your joint sponsorship with Jani on our new local slalom scene is tremendous. Everyone who wanted to get into the sport could do so.

I wanted to say thank you from the entire Moscow Slalom Club. But the best "thank you" will be future wheel orders from your company.

Andrew Muzikin,
Max Zlobin
Moscow Slalom Club.

Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 1:27 am
by Howard Gordon
Thanks guys - that is great to hear. But the main credit should go to Jani, who had the idea to get things started again in Russia, and happened to ask if I had any extra wheels to help get things going.

In any case, I'm really happy to hear that the wheels are finding good use, and I look forward to supporting your efforts to build the sport in the future !

Howard

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 9:48 pm
by Jani Soderhall
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Another batch of 3dm wheels just made it to Russia. Vlad carried more than a 100 La Costas to Moscow and I got the pleasure to distribute them during my recent visit.

Most of these wheels will stay in Moscow while a few travelled to St Petersburg, some are reserved for the Saratov boys and yet some for the Latvian slalom team.

I think we've got the Russian team of slalomers covered for some time now. From what I saw in Moscow we can expect a whole new generation of slalomers, coming from snowboarding and longboarding, to enter the slalom scene. Some of the guys competing had only been slaloming for a few months and they already look promising.

Now what they need is a longer summer so they can get more practise on their slalom boards before the long winter sets in.

Thank you Howard for providing the wheels in this joint sponsorship.
Thank you Vlad for getting the wheels from the US to Russia.

...and at last thank's to the Russian slalomers for hosting us.


You may wonder why I care about Russia and there are several reasons. One of the stronger being that at the time when most countries only cared about ollies, flips and vertical skating, slalomers from the former Sovietunion entered the scene (Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) together with former east block allies Czechoslovakia. These countries provided so much excitement and energy for the slalom scene that it kept going for another ten years in Europe. I cannot thank them enough.

While the old guys are still there a new generation is developing. I'll do what I can to support them.