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Hernando Today

Bikers Ride For Soldier, Skateboarders

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: August 3, 2008

SPRING HILL - Before Cody Grater fought for his country in the Army, he fought for a skateboard park in Hernando County.

Grater was among skateboarders who rallied for the county's first park just for them.

He wanted to finish what his friend Stewart Abramowicz started before he was killed at age 12 in January 2001 while riding a scooter along Pinehurst Drive.

Abramowicz had collected some 400 signatures to convince officials to build the park. After his death, the community rallied for the park, and the walled cluster of ramps opened at Pioneer Park on Pinehurst in 2003. It's affectionately known as Stewy's Skatepark.

On Saturday, one year after Grater was killed while serving in Iraq, motorcycle riders rumbled into the park on Pinehurst Drive to raise money for a new ramp that will be added to the park in Grater's honor.

It was the first stop of five on the "Memorial Run for Cody Grater."

Organizers, including Grater's stepfather Larry Decker, are on a mission to raise $20,000 for a large, two-sided ramp to be tucked into an empty corner of the park.

The ramp will feature a plaque with Grater's name and a description of his role in the park's creation and in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

During Saturday's "poker run," bikers visited the Hideaway Pub in Hudson, the Mermaid Lounge in Spring Hill and Sleepy Hollow in Floral City to collect cards. The winner was whoever had the best handthe holder of the best hand. A concert featuring rap and rock bands was planned at the final stop, Two Guys From Italy in Homosassa.

A similar event brought in $4,500 last year, said Decker, who rides a custom Harley Davidson. He hoped Saturday's event would raise $10,000.

The goal is of the ramp "is to let the younger generation know who Cody was, and the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country and for the younger generation," he said.

Grater's mother, Anita Lewis of Spring Hill who rode on the back of a bike Saturday, said she was excited at the prospect of improving the park, "and having the kids know it's from Cody."

Before the ground rumbled with the throaty power of motorcycles, the sky grumbled with a morning thundershower. Riders waited out the rain under a couple of small overhangs. About two dozen had signed up by noon, and many sported wet leather and denim.

Among them was Jim Futrell, a builder from Brooksville and Decker's former boss who rode in on his Harley Ultra-Classic. He said he came out Saturday "to carry on Cody's legacy, and anything we can do to carry on the legacy of our troops overseas, we should be doing it," Futrell said.

Anthony Arenz's dark blue Kawasaki Ninja sport bike stood out among the row of Harleys. Arenz, 21, planned to do the ride and then perform a set of rap at the concert.

Arenz echoed what many have said about Grater since he was killed when his guard station near Baghdad came under fire.

"He was the sweetest kid I ever met in my life," Arenz said. "He definitely is a hero to a lot of people."

Arenz said he plans to enlist in the Army, "to stand for the same thing Cody did."

Amber Costa, 31, is Stewy Abramowicz's mother and now helps run the park.

"Cody was a part of this, so a part of him is here, too," Costa said. "We just have to make it noticeable."

The empty corner once contained at large ramp that had to be taken down because it had begun to fall apart, Costa said.

Once the showers stopped Saturday, skaters waited for the ramps to dry. Among them was Chris Lemir, a 24-year-old from Hudson whose been riding at the park since it opened. Lemir said the plan for the ramp, which would allow skaters to launch into the air from two directions, is a good one.

"It'd be perfect right there," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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