When Brandon Bacher gets acquainted with his new classmates on this first day in the eighth grade at Ascension School today, the conversation is destined to turn to his summer adventure.

And some interesting words will more than likely come up. Terms like kickflip, boardslide, switch-stance and goofy-foot.

For those of us past the age of daring physical exploits, it has been explained that those words are included in the everyday jargon of skateboarding enthusiasts.

Brandon, who lives in Kettering and will turn 14 on Sept. 14, is an expert in the world of skateboarding.

And he has just returned from Oceanside, Calif., where he had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with Tony Hawk *, the most famous and successful skateboarding athlete in America.

Hawk, 34, has been skateboarding since he was 9, and is the winner of nearly every major skateboarding competition. He is the founder of the National Skateboard Association and has been instrumental in helping create public venues across the country for young skateboarders.

"He also is one nice guy," said Steve Bacher, Brandon's father. "There are lots of demands on Tony's time and he has lots of obligations, but he spent nearly two hours with Brandon. He gave him quality time — one on one — and Brandon will never forget it."

Brandon is not able to do much skateboarding himself, even though he says he has tried it a time or two. The young man was born with two holes in his heart, and has spent his young life in and out of treatment for a series of heart and lung complications. He has had two major surgeries.

"He leads an active life," his father said. "But he has limitations. Brandon gets tired easily. And he knows when to pull back and take it easy. He is a pretty small guy and can't do contact sports. But from an early age, he latched on to skateboarding. He became fascinated with it. And Tony Hawk is his hero. He has the Tony Hawk video games, and he has followed Tony's career."

When the organization known as A Special Wish Foundation offered to grant Brandon a wish, he didn't think twice before asking if he could meet his idol, Tony Hawk.

"They couldn't confirm that Tony would be available," Steve said. "So we geared our special trip out west for Disneyland. We didn't promise Brandon anything, but did say there was a chance."

Steve, his wife, Irene, and Brandon's older sister, Angela, 17, a junior at Carroll High School, went along for the 16-day vacation trip and spent time in Los Angeles *, Las Vegas * and San Diego *.

"On the last day of our trip, as we were getting ready to fly home, we got the call," Steve said. "It had been arranged for Brandon to meet Tony Hawk."

According to the father, Brandon was star struck and pretty quiet when he met Hawk. "But we could tell that Tony took a special interest in our son. He was just so kind and attentive, and sincere. It was pretty touching."

Brandon said he likes Tony more than ever now that he has met him.

"He talked to me for a long time," Brandon said. "It was awesome. He performed just for me, and he gave me a bunch of gifts to bring home, including an autographed skateboard."

He added, "He was just like someone you have always known. I loved it. It was awesome. It was the neatest thing that ever happened for me."

This article was originally entitled "Brandon’s big day with skateboarder Tony Hawk" and was found at http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/local/0822dale.html

Search this site for more about Hawk Makes Wish Come True *