From the sidelines

Josh Holdgate

O'MARA IN FOOTBALL CLASSIC Whaler linebacker John O'Mara will play in the 29th annual Shriners Football Classic at Bentley College in Waltham Friday night.

The Shriners Football Classic showcases the top senior players from across the state. According to coach Vito Capizzo, O'Mara is one of only seven Nantucket players ever to be selected to play in the prestigious game that benefits the Shriners Hospital for Children. To be considered, players must be nominated by their coaches and be supported by their league.

"John is a very coachable kid," Capizzo said. "He was our number one tackler last year, and has all the ability to be something special." O'Mara plans to attend Nichols College in the fall.

HOLDGATE TO CONTINUE LACROSSE AT MT. IDA COLLEGE After four years of varsity level lacrosse, Josh Holdgate will exchange his Whaler pads for those of the Mount Ida Mustangs of Newton, Mass., where he will be studying sports management. Holdgate holpes to help the Mustangs secure a fifth consecutive North Atlantic Conference Championship next spring. He feels that the Nantucket lacrosse program has shown him that hard work and dedication pay off.

- - Sam Toole

GOMES TO CYCLE CROSS-COUNTRY Walter Gomes, who made his first bike from a frame he found at the Nantucket dump, plans to bike from Anacortes, Wash. to Portland, Maine to celebrate his 80th birthday next year.

Gomes, who now lives in Sierra Vista, Ariz., after a career in the U.S. Army and with the Union Pacific Railroad, grew up on the island. He and his family left the island in the last days of the Depression. "I remember the day we left for the mainland," he told the Sierra Vista Herald. "December 7, 1941. Infamous."

According to the Herald story: "Gomes remembers hearing about Pearl Harbor while on the ferry from Nantucket. 'People were so worried. They thought our boat would get bombed. But my father knew how far away Hawaii was. And he told others not to worry.' "

SKATE SAFE SATURDAY Askating demonstration by the region's top skateboarders will be held Saturday, June 23, from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the new skate park on Backus Lane.

Dillon Buss will lead the demonstration that will also feature Tim Burlingame, who rides for DC shoes, Zoo York skateboards and Baystate Wheels; Rob Cabral, who rides for I-Path shoes and Baystate Wheels; Jack Kelly, who rides for Emerica shoes.

All island skateboarders and parents are welcome. The event is sponsored by the Park and Recreation Commission, Alliance Against Substance Abuse and

the Stop & Shop. Rain date is June 30. I