If you live in Fayetteville and haven’t seen our story or the countless social media posts about the mysterious (no longer mysterious) teenage skateboarder from 1979, it’s understandable. After all, we had a new election. But I think you will be in the minority.

Shaunda Shane, now 56, was just 10 years old when Fayetteville Observer photographer Steve Aldridge took a black-and-white photo of her on a skateboard holding an umbrella on a rainy January day. Great photo. It’s so cool that legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk was intrigued and posted it to his more than 15 million followers. instagram And Facebook last weekend.

People were hungry for details. Who is this girl? Wait, do I know him? Does he still live here?

Staff photographer Andrew Craft saw Hawk’s post; he was that Who digitized the image in 2019?That’s what ended up on Hawk’s social media — and he scanned the microfilm to find it first thing Monday morning (his name wasn’t on the image he had digitized).

Fayetteville Observer local news editor FT Norton received the information and immediately set out to find Shane. Within 15 minutes, it was revealed that Shaunda still lives in Fayetteville and works at Cape Fear Valley Health.

Norton was the first person to speak to him on Monday. (the story is here and it’s a great read). A few hours later, Craft met up with Shane in the Fayetteville neighborhood, where they recreated the viral 1979 photo more than 45 years later.

I gasped when I saw Craft’s photo. A very nice shot; You can still see the 10-year-old girl in Shane’s face.

In the midst of a contentious election season, the beauty and mystery of a photo from decades ago was a welcome distraction. I know I was grateful for that, and judging by the thousands of posts and messages about the confident girl on the skateboard, a lot of people were too.

News director Beth Hutson can be reached at: [email protected] or 910-486-3533.

This article first appeared in The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville Observer recreates photo of Tony Hawk’s beloved skateboarder