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Stuck in Ohio event to feature action sports
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
A group of friends filming action sports has put together an event this weekend for fans.
Ken and Dan Mizicko of Vienna run Stuck in Ohio productions, which does production of action sports. Ken Mizicko said they’ve done commercial work for Mountain Dew and Fiat.
He explained how it all started back in 2003.
“As we got older, like 10 or 11 years ago, we always filmed our stunting” with action sports, Ken said. “We decided to put a bunch of this together and make a halfway homemade video, which was a snowboarding video.”
They showed the videos to their family and friends, who in turn wanted copies to show to more people and it spread from there. Last year, the brothers hosted a reunion for that original video and are calling this year a second reunion.
“We didn’t know who was going to come out [last year] and we definitely took a step back and were blown away,” Dan Mizicko said.
The event, the second annual Stuck in Ohio reunion, will take place Saturday at BikeTown Harley-Davidson, 5700 Interstate Blvd., close to the Interstate 80 and state Route 46 interchange, from 1 to 7 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be food vendors and displays from area shops. The event features showcasing of BMX, motorcycle, and skateboard riding as well as art.
Ken Mizicko compared the day to a music festival, with various types of riders on the stages at certain times throughout the event — BMX shows at 2 and 4 p.m., motorcycle stunt shows at 3 and 5 p.m., and a BMX trick contest at 6 p.m., among others.
The Mizicko brothers said the event allows younger riders to ask for tips and network with other people their age interested in action sports.
“If you’re a rider, it’s just a tight-knit community, and everyone just kind of clicks, and you understand what they’re going through,” Dan Mizicko said.
“There’s definitely a right and wrong way to approach learning and progressions,” Ken Mizicko said.
Both said they have had contact with people coming to the event from throughout the state, including Columbus, Akron and Cleveland. The event will be similar to last year’s but more organized this time, the brothers said. They said about 700 people attended last year.
“We got some guys coming from Cleveland bringing some ramps more catered to BMX riders. ... [It’s a] better setup for BMX riders,” Dan Mizicko said.
Overall, the event is more about having the action- sports community together under one roof at the same time.
“We just want to get people exposed to something and kind of build the action-sports community and culture here in this area. It’s not small, but it could be so much more,” Ken Mizicko said.
For more information about the event or Stuck in Ohio in general, visit www.stuckinohio.com.