Best Advocate for a Group Without Advocates

Zach Wilson's downtown skate shop hadn't yet opened -- it hadn't even been stocked -- when thieves broke in and made off with most of his personal possessions in late 2001. No one would have blamed Wilson for relocating to Johnson County and profiting from that area's suburban skateparks. Instead, Wilson moved less than a mile, from 12th Street and Grand to 18th Street and Baltimore, where his Lovely skate shop has become an unofficial headquarters for efforts to build an urban skatepark. Wilson hasn't just given local skaters a downtown destination to hit before proceeding to Barney Allis Plaza; he's also volunteered as a skater ambassador to the city-led skatepark project.