Laguna Niguel, California * -- The International Society of Skateboarding Moms has announced the 2005 * Mighty Mama Skate-O-Rama, a "skate date for moms and anyone who supports them," taking place on Mother's Day, Sunday May 8th, at the 20,000 square foot Laguna Niguel skatepark * in Orange County, California *.

Why? "Because Moms Gotta Have Fun!"

The event is open to anyone, with all proceeds from the planned "well-stocked raffle" going to unspecified children's literacy programs. Reportedly more than $3,000 worth of prizes were given away last year, and this year a silent auction for big-ticket items is planned as well.

The International Society of Skateboarding Moms, founded by "Skateboard Mom" Barb Odanaka, has more than 300 members worldwide and has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, The Early Show, USA * Today, LA Times, National Public Radio and many others.

Odanaka is a former LA Times staff writer (under her maiden name, Barbie Ludovise), and is also the author of the book "Skateboard Mom", published by Putnam Books in 2004 *, about "a boy who gets a skateboard for his birthday only to see his mom zoom off with it and become a skateboard goddess in the process." One amazon.com review of the book said " It makes kids thing about what their mom did prior to having kids--that maybe once she was cool." Odanaka was also "a member of the Hobie amateur skateboard team as a kid."

Odanaka, of Laguna Beach, California, started the club in 2004 because she was tired of being the only mom riding a skateboard at the skatepark.

As Odanaka puts it on her website: "The International Society of Skateboarding Moms —- even we smile when we say it -— is about making time for play, no matter your age. It’s about staying fit (despite those half-eaten kid meals you’ve gobbled). It’s about dispelling stereotypes (moms as domestic divas, skaters as delinquents). It’s about living for the moment, if only for a moment in time."

"But mostly", Odanaka says, "it’s about the ride."

"Smiles," she adds "are what it’s all about."

The Mother's Day 2005 Mighty Mama Skate-O-Rama event will be on Sunday, May 8, at Laguna Niguel Skateboard Park, 27745 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Niguel, California from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will kick off the 2005 Mighty Mama tour, which will run from San Diego, California * to Seattle *, Washington * the summer of 2005.

See www.skateboardmom.com for details.

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