AFF benefit jam at Paxton's

Mar 16, 2009

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 8583 times

It's Monday morning and we've been in Cali for a few days now. On Saturday we stopped at Lonnie Paxton's place in Riverside. I don't know the actual title of the jam as it was not announced or publicized but I heard something about St. Paddy jam or something. Whatever the excuse, or reason, I was well impressed when I showed up. Music was blasting, tons of RV's were parked up the street and had a great view onthe trails and it was incredible to see how many people had shown up for a non-publicized event. Parked the Ford Focus up the hill, grabbed the camera bag and looked for the entrance. As this was a benefit jam for the AFF (Active Force Foundation) I was expecting an entry fee but waling in the gate was easy and if you were 21 or over you got a wristband so you could order drinks. The jam was at Paxton's place, an american football player who went to highschool with Heith Pinter. As Lonnie spends most of his time in Denver (plays for the Bronco's now), he let Heith build some trails in the yard next to the house. They were in top shape for the day.

With Rockstar being a sponsor not only the drinks were taken care of. They brought the girls and a whole bunch of Rockstar pros like Rob Darden, Ryan Nyquist, Dennis Enarson, Heith himself, Nasty and also Josh Harrington. Would have been good to have Mike Aitken there (riding or not) as this was a scene that everyone was enjoying. How could you not.

Drinks started flowing early in the afternoon. 15 kegs, Jaegermeister as a sponsor, the biggest Jack Daniels bottles I've ever seen, and everything for free. The sun was out and some funny guys were on the microphone giving away hundred dollar bills to those who did something good. Hucker's double backie was good for a hundred dollar bill as was a high five duo jump and an over-under jump. The atmosphere was great and the riding was insane. Chase Hawk did the biggest boosts over the hip and him,

Corey Bohan, Heith Pinter and BF were doing trains all day long. It was good to see Stephen Murray there, and Brian Blyther, and Mike Dominguez, and Andrew Faris, and Jason Enns, and Brian Castillo, and.............the list is endless.

When it got too dark to ride the band started playing. Oakley donated $5000,= to the AFF which is great. There was a raffle for a Giant complete bike that was won by a dad who is going to see a stoked 13 year old son when he gets home. A DJ had taken over inside the house and then a few hours were spent jumping in the

pool from the jacuzzi area. The next morning I woke up in the Ford Focus. I somehow had made it to the car. All my clothes were wet but I still had the camera, the passport, car keys and the wallet. Why do we travel so far for these BMX jams? Because you never know what's going to happen. You would think things can't get crazier but they can. Leave it up to Lonnie Paxton and his crew and you'll get a day to remember. I'll never forget this one. Thanks.

BdJ