Kevin Fortin
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Boarding:
Ever since middle school I have done some sort of board sport. Whether it be skateboarding, longboarding, or snowboarding I just enjoy it. I have been skateboarding and snowboarding since middle school. I tend to snowboard on mountains such as Mount Snow, Wachusett, and Ski Sundown. Over the years I have gotten progressively better at hitting rails and jumps. I also snowboarded at my buddies house on a drop in and a couple rails he had, which in turn inspired me to build a whole park in my front yard. During the winter it tends to be hard to skateboard or longboard due to the fact that the roads are usually wet this time of year. But recently we have been heading out to the Stafford skate park to skate the half pipe there, of course we have to trek through the snow and then shovel off the pipe but it dries very quickly due to materials it is made out of. Last but certainly not least, longboarding. I have longboarded since the spring of my freshman year, it has become a part of me. Waking up on a fresh summer morning, eating a bit then spending the whole day going around skating different hills and such. Some of the best times with my high school friends were spent out on a hill with some kind of board.
Eagle Scout:
I have been involved with the Boy Scouts of America since I was in the first grade, I guess you could say I finish what I start. To become Eagle Scout I had to give back to the community in which ever way I felt fit, as long as the project passes all of the credentials. My project consisted of clearing a trail to link up with a larger system of walking trails in the town of South Windsor. This project took me just over a year to complete, the total amount of man hours contributed ended up being roughly 130 hours. I alone contributed about 25 hours from going to various meetings with town executives, meetings with leadership throughout the Boy Scout organization, planning, collecting materials from donations, and actual manual labor blazing the trail. The trail its self cuts off a very busy part of Sullivan Avenue allowing a safe and refreshing walk away from the hustle of the streets. But to be able to receive approval for the project you must work through the ranks of the Boy Scouts learning various skills. Building fires, camping, and learning to survive in the wilderness are surely the first skills that come to mind, but a life skill learned from these experiences is leadership. Whether it be directing people in situations such as fire building contests or spontaneous first aid evaluations to the extent of leading a vast amount of people towards a common good.
Unlikely Futures:
Longboarding has become a passion of mine ever since I started. With the skills I acquired in manufacturing classes at Coventry High school I decided that I could easily make a unique and one of a kind longboard. For my seventeenth birthday I split buying a few essential shop tools with my parents, with money I had saved from a paper route I had as child. After getting everything in place out in the shed, that my parents just used for storage space, I began building a press with a close friend, Patrick Joslin. The shape on the press was extremely important to fit specific dimensions so that concave could be pressed into the plies of wood. I proceeded to design a functional press in the program CAD, another skill I acquired at Coventry High. After printing out the design at school we went to the shop at home and began building the press. This press we use is basically two spinal columns that connect together, with a cut out in the middle to shape the boards. After this press was finished we immediately began production of longboards. We press together a 3/4 thick, 4 foot by 1 foot board that we glue together layer by layer. After the glue has dried and the board has the concave shaped in, this is the top part of the board so your feet stay on much better than a flat board. After extraction we trace out the design on it, then proceed to cut it out on the ban saw, next sanding the edges for a nice symmetrical finish. Last but not least we drill the holes to attach the wheel mechanism. After crafting of the board is complete it takes a trip to our in house artist to receive a unique, one of a kind paint job. After this we lather our boards in polyurethane for a spectacular finish. Next we toss some trucks and wheels on then sell it. But this is not all we have to offer, we also sell tee shirts, yoga pants, and hats. Whether we turn into a large corporation or stay small and local we have passed half way to gaining back what our original investment was, in our trial period. This summer we have plans to move large numbers of boards to local and corporate skate shops. It is at a point where we have to watch where the pieces fall.