PRESS RELEASE 12/21/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 21, 2005

Contact: Alan “Ollie” Gelfand

1861 N. Federal Highway, Suite 228

Hollywood, FL 33020

http://www.ollieair.com

http://www.olliewood.org

OLLIEWOOD, THE OXFORD DICTIONARY AND MORE

Hollywood, Florida -- Alan “Ollie” Gelfand, inventor of the ollie, is in the news again, Powell-Peralta resissues the 1980 Ollie Tank, and more.

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Contents

1. Original 1980 Ollie Tank Model Re-released

2. The Olliewood Story

3. Ollie In the Oxford English Dictionary

4. Basketball Stars, Baseball Stars…and Ollie?

5. The Olliewood Reporter

6. Did you know…

7. Bigger than Dogtown?!

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1. ORIGINAL 1980 OLLIE TANK MODEL RE-RELEASED

Powell-Peralta has released the famous Ollie Gelfand Tank deck. First released in 1980, the signature deck of the inventor of the ollie came in a limited variety of solid colors. The original Ollie decks have become collector items with the boards fetching prices as high as $3000.00 on eBay. The 2005 re-release comes with a camouflage design. Also made publicly available again are the Alan “Ollie” Gelfand Tank T-shirts. The Gelfand shirts (and especially the vintage stickers) are even rarer than the decks. Now you can buy an official Powell-Peralta Gelfand shirt without paying thousands of dollars.

The Ollie Gelfand Tank model can be found on the Powell-Peralta site:

http://www.powell-peralta.com/products/decks.html

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2. THE OLLIEWOOD STORY

Many people know of Alan “Ollie” Gelfand’s second “residence” called Olliewood, located where else but Hollywood (Florida), but few know the full story of Olliewood and how it keeps getting better. Alan’s “home away from home” is located just blocks away from his residence in Hollywood, Florida.

Hollywood is situated between Fort Lauderdale and Miami is the historical birthplace of the ollie. The idea for Olliewood was sparked in 1999 by Alan after he had just completed an interview with Michael Brooke for his forthcoming book on the history of skateboarding called The Concrete Wave (Warrick, 2001). It took nearly three years to open Olliewood. The most difficult part was finding a location. One day Alan quite accidentally came across a large warehouse for sale close to house. Within weeks he purchased it with partners and began construction of the facility. Olliewood opened its doors to the public in 2002. Olliewood was built from the ground-up and improvements were slowly added over a period of time. It now contains two floor levels, a lounge, an entertainment room, an arcade room and a capsule shaped bowl. Food and drink is also available but only through vending machines to keep things simple with Olliewood as well as the city. Over the years Olliewood has hosted events, gatherings, contests and entertained a number of celebrities. The bowl inside Olliewood was built by the hard-working crew of Team Pain. Tim Payne, ramp legend Tim Payne generously lent his crew out to help Alan construct the ramp for Olliewood. Payne’s most notable work was the Animal Chin ramp for Powell-Peralta, the vert ramp for the Gravity Games and ESPN and the loop for Tony Hawk.

Olliewood boasts a great selection of vintage arcade games including Space Invaders, Pac Man and Donkey Kong. More to be added soon plus some surprises.

The Lounge at Olliewood has recently added a new DVD player for the viewing pleasure of its guests. Eventually a solid door will be added to the lounge as well as better sound proofing to make the room more quiet and useable by visitors during skate sessions. Not that there’s anything better to watch on the tube than what’s happening in the bowl!

New membership cards are being issued for Olliewood. Look for the new ones to be super slick and one day to become collector’s items with a few ending up on eBay we’re sure. The usual throng of visitors and guests are of course still welcome but to use the bowl part of the facility (meaning skateboard) the standard Olliewood release form will need to be signed. Minors are always welcome but they may only skate with a parent present and a proper release form.

Olliewood was paid a recent surprise visit during Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Huck Jam during July when the tour was in Florida. Andy MacDonald, ace skateboarder and owner of AndyMac skateboards, literally dropped in to see what was happening after “work”! It was quite a night for all and the party went into the wee hours.

Alan “Ollie” Gelfand’s Olliewood web site is:

http://www.olliewood.org

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3. OLLIE IN THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

In 2000 “ollie” became officially recognized by this revered lexicon and in February 2004 the “unknown origin” reference was finally corrected giving its inventor, Alan Ollie” Gelfand, credit with one of the most fundamental tricks in modern skateboarding.

Ollie:

1. TRANSITIVE VERB; A jump executed by pressing the foot down on the tail of the board to rebound the deck off the ground.'

2. NOUN; The name of Alan “Ollie” Gelfand (b. 1963), U.S. skateboarder, who invented the jump in 1976.

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4. BASKETBALL STARS, BASEBALL STARS…AND OLLIE?

Alan was recently added to the ESPN SportsFigures series for Cable in the Classroom, now in its 10th Anniversary season, and joins the company of other featured SportsFigure greats such as Barry Larkin, Tony Hawk, Kenyon Martin, Troy Glaus, Rochelle Ballard and Travis Brown. This program series provides an athlete's perspective into the subjects of math and physics. The object of the program is to increase students' interests and supplement teachers with tools in the form of this innovative program series that aids students in application and understanding—or as the program so deftly phrases it, “Put your brain in the game.” ESPN’s Greg Abbey lightheartedly narrates the segment along with X-Games Gold Medalist Bob Burnquist demonstrating the trajectory of big air. The etymology of words is the focus of this segment with ollie and its inventor Alan “Ollie” Gelfand as it’s centerpiece. Alan makes a guest appearance in the program and it features his recent noteworthy entry into the Oxford English Dictionary.

To learn more about Sportsfigures visit the ESPN/Cable in the Classroom site:

http://sportsfigures.espn.com/sportsfigures/classroomcable.htm

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5. THE OLLIEWOOD REPORTER

Look for a new updated newsletter called The Olliewood Reporter which will be sent out to all current members and subscribers and to anyone else who requests a subscription. The newsletter is free and email-based. Simply go to Alan’s website and ask to be put on the mail list. The Olliewood Reporter contains the latest news from Olliewood central which includes reports from the roll-out deck as well as the latest in happenings in Florida and the east coast. It will also on occasion feature book, movie and music reviews as well as some exclusive photos for those who are able to receive HTML-based email.

Alan “Ollie” Gelfand and Olliewood

http://www.olliewood.org

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6. DID YOU KNOW…

Here are a few little known things about Ollie. Ollie is a nickname Alan received from his pals back in their early days of skateboarding before he had invented the trick. Alan’s radical no-hands aerial which he invented in 1978 was named after him and not the other way around. Ollie sounded much better than a Gelfand. As it stands today, Ollie is probably the most well-known name and trick inside and outside of skateboarding—and all over the world! “Ollie” is not only one of the most widely-known identities in sports today but also a registered trademark of Alan “Ollie” Gelfand and can only be used under license.

Alan “Ollie” Gelfand

http://www.ollieair.com

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7. BIGGER THAN DOGTOWN?!

For not being a Z-Boy Alan “Ollie” Gelfand has certainly gotten his fair share of the press since the release of the films “Dogtown and Z-Boys” in 2001 and “Lords of Dogtown” in 2005. The New York Times and ESPN have been the latest to cover this living legend of skateboarding. This year’s events and news has included following:

POWELL-PERALTA MUSEUM, San Diego, CA --- January 2005 --- An Alan “Ollie” Gelfand wall was part of this exhibit. After being spotted by Stacy Peralta in 1977, Alan began riding for the Powell-Peralta team beginning in 1978 and was one of the very first team members before the team became famously known in the eighties as the Bones Brigade and featured such some new, young riders by the name of Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen as well as others.

THE SKATEBOARD MAG --- June 2005 --- “ORIGINS OF THE OLLIE” was a one-page piece on Alan and the history of the trick.

NEW YORK TIMES --- June 12, 2005 --- Alan was interviewed for an article called “DOGTOWN USA” which came out hot on the heels of the release of “Lords of Dogtown”, the new Hollywood skateboarding drama based on the Dogtown and Z-Boys story. Alan “Ollie” Gelfand, though not one of the characters portrayed in the film, was selected as one of the important interviewees for this piece written by Damien Cave.

TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING --- July 2005 --- A one-page piece called “BACK IN THE DAY” was one of the more accurate histories of Alan “Ollie” Gelfand to ever be printed.

THRASHER --- August 2005 --- Alan was featured in a spoof of the PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS (the one which many of us are all familiar with from science class). Instead of elements the table used skateboarders and in relation to their valued contribution to skateboarding. Appearing at number one was Z-Boy Jay Adams. On the second level were Tony Alva and Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. A placement that was indeed an honor and a surprise for Alan.

ESPN The Magazine --- September 2005 (issue No. 8.19) --- A brief interview with Gelfand along with a rare 1979 photo of him at the Hollywood Ramp appear in a piece in a special ESPN piece contained in this issue’s EXPN insert.

TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING --- October 2005 --- As an eye-witness, seventies photographer and historian Craig Snyder gives the ultimate account of the Alan “Ollie” Gelfand story to this monthly magazine in a piece called “OOPS ON THE OOPIE”.

Coming in November:

CONCRETE WAVE MAGAZINE --- November 2005 & January 2006 --- More of the Alan “Ollie” Gelfand story is to come in a 14 page piece appearing in the Concrete Wave Magazine in the November 2005 and January 2006 issues. This landmark piece focuses on Craig Snyder who was the photographer and a documenter of the seventies skateboard revolution in Florida. Alan naturally gets his piece of the action with some never before known stories and history as well as some never before seen photographs.

The publisher of Concrete Wave is Canadian Michael Brooke, author of one of the best-selling skateboard histories around, The Concrete Wave (Warrick, 2001) and also the book Skate Legends (Olmstead, 2001). Michael Brooke is also the genius behind Concrete Wave TV which is featured on the Fuel Channel. Michael has recently moved into book publishing with the launch of Concrete Wave Editions and has already put together at six of the finest skateboarding books presently on the market right now including the official Lords of Dogtown movie book.

Concrete Wave Magazine & Books:

http://www.concretewavemagazine.com

Concrete Wave TV:

http://www.concretewavetv.com/

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