Dylan Redcalf was a champion skateboarder and a mentor to dozens of youngsters in the Rocky Mountain House area.
In keeping with Redcalf’s passion, a group of young residents have come together with the local Common Ground Initiative to hold a skateboarding challenge next summer to honour the 20-year-old who was killed in a car crash on Oct. 13.
Redcalf was among six people in a car parked on the shoulder of Hwy 11, a few km west of Rocky Mountain House when a pickup slammed into the rear of the vehicle. All six were taken to hospitals and Redcalf died of his injuries in Calgary.
No charges have been laid yet in the collision, which remains under investigation.
Louise Russell, Wild Rose School Division Aboriginal Resource Centre manager, said Redcalf was a gifted skateboarder who practically lived at the skatepark from the time he was five years old on. As a 10-year-old he won a competition in Rocky Mountain House against adult competitors, and the aboriginal youth was well known in the skateboard communities in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake, where he won the Shake the Lake competition.
But his influence extended far beyond skateboard bowls and rails.
“By 20 years old, he was a role model in our community,” said Russell, adding parents would phone and ask him to mentor their children.
She called his death “one of the greatest losses in our community.”
Redcalf had dedicated himself to getting his high school diploma, while being an active volunteer in the Aboriginal Resource Centre, the annual Calling All Drums Powwow and the community’s Common Ground Initiative, a community-driven effort to build relationships and promote understanding between aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities.
He was also talented in the kitchen, becoming head chef at a local hotel.
Russell said Redcalf always viewed the skateboard park as the community’s common ground for youth and had dreamed of organizing an annual skateboard competition.
To carry on his work, more than a dozen youths were to gather on Thursday night to begin planning for the “Prince of the Park Skateboard Competition: Memorial for Dylan Redcalf, Rocky’s Prince of Champions,” which is set for Aug. 18 in Rocky.
Fundraising has already begun, and one local family recently donated $1,000 and Rocky Mountain Bike ’N Board has pledged $3,000 in prizes, she said. More donations, sponsors, volunteers and skateboard experts to help out are welcomed.
For information, contact Russell at 403-845-3544 or email her at Louise.Russell@wrsd.ca.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com