Local skate shop builds supportive community
Story by Carson Muscutt
Photos by Sam Huffman
Design by Candace Alvey
Editor’s Note: This article was originally released in Issue 18 of the WKU Talisman print magazine. Click here to read more articles from the Talisman’s semesterly print.
Michael Portugal never wanted to open a skate shop. But after moving to Bowling Green, he noticed the city lacked a space where the youth and adults alike could enjoy counterculture music, thoughts and expression.
“My vision has always been to create a space for community,” Portugal said. “The business comes last, the people come first.”
Bowling Green is home to the skatepark in Roland Bland Park and Molotov Skateshop, owned by Portugal, where skaters can exercise their craft.
Although the skating community in Bowling Green is tight-knit, everyone is kind and welcoming, even if they aren’t familiar with you, Portugal said.
“We’re all trying to do this similar activity and have fun,” Portugal said, “But skaters won’t take any bullshit from people. If you are staying in your lane and not being a dick, you will be welcomed.”
Portugal’s love for skateboarding blossomed while he grew up in southern Florida, where he was introduced to the sport by his cousin, he said. He often played the game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater One, which inspired him to hop on the board.
“I remember my first time going to a skate shop in Lauderdale by the sea,” Portugal said. “I was so mesmerized by all the art on the skateboards, and seeing the same decks that were in the Tony Hawk video game made it all seem so real.”
Portugal was in third grade when he got his first board. His parents found out about an indoor skatepark called Ramp48 where they would take him and his brother. He said it was his favorite place to go.
When he turned 18, he began working at Ramp48. By that time, he felt like he found a family within the skateboarding community.
Portugal said that when he skates, all worries and stresses go away.
“As soon as I get on a skateboard and start pushing, it feels like a part of my brain shuts off,” Portugal said. “It’s the same feeling as reading a book, or making art, except it hurts more because you didn’t see the pebble or the crack on the sidewalk that threw you off the board.”
Some people would say that skateboarding is a spiritual practice or a form of exercise, Portugal said.
“I would say it’s a mixture of all those things,” Portugal said. “Skateboarding is whatever it needs to be for me on that certain day. Some days it’s a punching bag that I can let my anger out on. Some days it feels like something to do because I’m bored. Some days it’s something to sit on while having a meaningful conversation with a friend.”
After moving to Bowling Green, Portugal wanted to spread his love for skateboarding to a community where the sport wasn’t as popular. So, along with his friend and fellow skateboarder, he opened Molotov Skateshop in the attic of an A-frame building on Center Street. The shop is now located on College Street.
“We started real small with no debt, and it worked I guess,” Portugal said. “We have no prior business knowledge, so I have been winging it for the past five years.”
Portugal and other skaters involved with Molotov will travel to other parts of the country to make video montages. They pick a city and go for seven to eight days, usually crashing on another skater’s floor.
“We skate hard all day in the streets, filming at different spots, then usually end the day with a session at a local skatepark,” Portugal said. “We do that for a week, until we can barely walk, then head home. We do that a few times or until there’s enough footage to put a video together.”
Portugal said he looks up to all of his friends because when they aren’t pushing themselves to learn how to skate better, they push themselves in other areas of their life, like their art, music and relationships.
He said he looks up to anyone who’s trying to land a trick because they are doing it regardless of the chances for failure and pain.
“I am so grateful for all the homies who have helped me at the shop, people who have spent their hard earned money at my shop, bands that played in the back, artists that have shown their work and the people that hang out almost every day and see the value of this place,” Portugal said.
Cody Martin is a skater from Florida. He moved to Bowling Green two years ago for a fresh start after his father passed away.
He first got into skating when he was 10 years old after being encouraged by his father, who used to cruise around Florida on a skateboard in the 80s.
“He was like, ‘You should try it sometime,’ and sure enough I did,” Martin said. “I lived in a little country town in Florida, so there wasn’t a big skating community down there.”
Since living in Bowling Green, Martin said he turned to the skating community while dealing with homelessness.
“The homeless people get a bad rep but they aren’t that bad,” Martin said. “I just felt more comfortable with the skaters. They’re really supportive people. Even if you don’t know any tricks, they’ll still ride with you around town.”
When it’s warm out, Martin said he is always riding his skateboard around Bowling Green. He prefers sightseeing from the streets, rather than skating the ramps in the skatepark.
“You can’t miss me when I’m skating,” Martin said. “I got my gray jacket with the Molotov Skateshop logo on the back.”
Chad Anthony is an inline skater from Bowling Green and has been practicing the sport since 1998. He is the owner of Skate Co., an online skate company that sells homemade skate products and magazines.
Anthony said the skating community in Bowling Green generally has members who come from difficult backgrounds. He has met many skaters who have overcome a traumatic past.
“I meet a lot of people who maybe didn’t come from the most wholesome upbringing who are attracted to, like, the most extreme lifestyle,” Anthony said. “I’ve been able to connect with individuals who have dealt with, you know, just like soul searching dilemmas.”
Anthony described the skating community in Bowling Green as small but fresh.
“Many of the skaters I see are new,” Anthony said. “There’s not a lot of old heads left except for me and a few other guys.”
Lathan Terry is a skateboarder from Houston and has been skateboarding for nine years.
After moving to Bowling Green with his mom, he initially hated living in Kentucky until he found his place in the skating community.
“Honestly, skating has kept me in Bowling Green,” Terry said. “I found the Molotov Skateshop and all the people here, and I felt a sense of community, friendship, and it just felt like one big family.”
Bowling Green on Sunday, Feb. 16. “I found Molotov Skateshop and all the
people here and felt this sense of community and friendship,” employee
Lathan Terry said. “It felt like a big family.” (Photo by Sam Huffman)
Terry said the skating community in Bowling Green is small, but the faces he sees every day are consistent. Every skater has a close connection.
Molotov is what brings everyone together, Terry said.
“The skate shop hosts dinners where all of the skaters will come out, eat, just skate for a while and hang out,” Terry said.
Molotov also hosts punk shows two to three times a month. Terry said people will come out from Louisville, Owensboro, Nashville and Murfreesboro to enjoy the music and share the love for skating culture with one another.
“It’s just really cool because all these scenes support each other,” Terry said. “It’s unlike Texas, where I came from. The skating community out there was really rude. They didn’t accept the beginners. But when I moved here, I really wasn’t that good at skating, and everybody invited me out.”
Terry said that what he loves most about Molotov is that it’s never about the money.
“It’s a place for people to be themselves, the freaks, the people that don’t fit in,” Terry said. “It really is sick. I love the reason Portugal made it.”
Terry said that skateboarding is what pushed him to turn his life around. He said he would still be in Houston, doing nothing and getting into trouble like he was before.
“I actually went to juvie when I was in Texas hanging around the wrong friends,” Terry said. “When I moved out here, I kind of straightened my life out, met a good group of friends, and it’s done worlds for me, and that’s all thanks to the skate shop and the skate community.”