The Skateboard

In July of 1976, my father, who was renowned in the area for his craftsmanship and woodworking, was contacted by a local business to manufacture 1,000 oak skateboards.  Short on funds, he asked his sister if he could borrow $500 in order to purchase the oak lumber needed to produce the order.  She loaned him the money and he was able to move forward with the job in his parent’s garage in Cranston, Rhode Island.  The first skateboard he made was given to my older sister when she was young and then passed on to me.  Though it is worn and damaged from its use as a childhood toy, it hangs today above the window in my office as a reminder of how Custom Design was started more than forty years ago.  It continually serves as a reminder of humble beginnings and of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

-Adam Dias