Lofty Goal Leads to Modest Gains

Rolling down Spruce Street on his skateboard Tuesday afternoon, 10-year-old Matt Maisey of Santa Ana Heights couldn’t quite build up enough steam to jump the 3-foot wooden ramp that he and friends had built with a lofty goal.

But his heart was in the right place as he and three other friends--Jeremy Henderson, 9, Luke Goring and Chad Petry, both 10--rode their boards in front of Jeremy’s house to gather donations for the war on drugs.

The $6.25 they collected--all from neighbors--will pay to spruce up the ramp, which is home-made and unadorned except for the spray-painted words “Ramp Riders Against Drugs.”

There was some debate among the boys about exactly where the remainder of the money, if there is any, will go. But, they assured donors, “a club that’s against drugs” will benefit from the windfall.

The anti-drug campaign idea came from Corey Henderson, Jeremy’s father. Once Jeremy added the skateboard gimmick to break the summer boredom, the neighborhood boys came around.

“After school was out, we just decided to do this ramp thing, and now we’re really getting into it,” Chad said.

The boys don’t plan on having another big fund-raiser until Saturday, Luke said, adding that they want to keep their options open.

“If someone really big comes and asks us to skate at this special place, then that’s OK,” he said.

In their performance premiere Tuesday, the Spruce Street ramp riders drew a small but appreciative audience.

“Not long ago, they would have been into Rambo and all that violent stuff,” said Loo Goring, Luke’s mom. This, she said, was a definite improvement.