West Palm Beach skateboarding event to raise addiction awareness postponed due to weather

Due to the threat of dangerous weather, the event scheduled for Saturday, June 3 at Phipps Skate Park in West Palm Beach has been postponed. The website below will be updated when the new date is set.

The local skateboarding and culinary communities are rallying to the cause of preventing and treating substance use disorders after a 34-year-old skateboarding enthusiast with a love for cooking lost his battle with addiction. The result is an event in his name this weekend.

The inaugural Bartle BBQ Hang will be held on Saturday, June 3 at Phipps Skate Park in West Palm Beach and feature delicious barbecue, a halfpipe competition with prizes, free skateboard stickers and T-shirts and beats by DJ INlighten (Lance Desrouleaux).

The event, conceived by the Bartle Family, their close friends and Sandy James Fine Food, is in honor of Cory Bartle, who succumbed to addiction in October.

It will also officially launch the Hanley Foundation's Cory Bartle Memorial Fund, with all proceeds going to the program.

The Hanley Foundation's mission is the elimination of addiction through prevention, advocacy, treatment and recovery support.

"This is an opportunity for our friends in the skateboarding and culinary communities to come out and ‘get on board’ to support this critical cause," said James Bartle, Cory's uncle and co-founder and proprietor of Sandy James Fine Food. "It’s heartbreaking that too many young people in our community fall victim to addiction, but we want anyone suffering to know that help is available, which is why we partnered with Hanley Foundation."

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James said that outreach to any of the kids in the skating community who may be suffering with addiction is paramount and added that he wanted to make sure that all the skateboard kids got fed.

That should not be a problem.

Sandy James Fine Foods will be cooking on site and serving up a classic barbecue featuring brisket sandwiches, barbecue chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad and more.

Adam Longnecker of the Sideways Group will be providing the halfpipe and running the skateboard competition. There will be first-, second- and third-place prizes.

Redeemable at Post Modern Skate Shop in West Palm Beach, first place will be a $250 gift certificate, second place will be a full skateboard and third a pair of shoes.

Professional skater Mike Peterson will also be making an appearance and putting on a demonstration.

No stranger to the skate scene, Cory Bartle was hardcore skater who split his time growing up between West Palm Beach and Hampton, Virginia. When in West Palm Beach, he regularly skated at Phipps and, according to his uncle, always had a skateboard with him.

In addition to skating, Cory was very much into cooking, learning much of his craft working with his uncle at Sandy James Fine Foods.

Cory was passionate about those he loved and was always willing to help people anyway he could.

Though he was working hard to be free of addiction, an accidental overdose ended his life.

Danielle Hanson of the Hanley Foundation, Florida's largest provider of grant-funded prevention programs and recovery scholarships to combat addiction, said the Cory Bartle Memorial Fund will directly support their Lifesaver Program.

Hanson said the program is for those seeking help, but don't have the financial means to get it. She said that many people suffering with addiction are homeless and uninsured and that this program can immediately get them into a qualified facility vetted by Hanley.

She said people tell her that "lives are saved and hope restored through the program" and added that a patient named Amy recently reached out to tell them "I'm alive and well today because of the lifesaving work that this organization does."

This is Hanley's first foray into skateboarding, and James wanted it to be an event that Cory would've wanted to attend, Hanson said.

Though all proceeds from the event will go toward the Cory Bartle Memorial Fund, even those not attending can help support this worthy cause. The website below can assist in making those donations.

Sandy James Fine Foods is underwriting the entire event.

The Bartle BBQ Hang

What: A skateboarding competition with good eats and great fun

Where: Phipps Skate Park, 4715 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach

When: noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 3

Cost: $50, junior tickets (ages 13 to 30) $35, 12 and under free

Information: hanleyfoundation.org/bbq

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He has lived in the West Palm Beach area for more than 30 years and, from mild to wild, will cover noteworthy community happenings. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Weekend skateboarding contest, BBQ at Phipps Skate Park rescheduled