Tribute to Cancer Victim Thursday at Skatepark

regularly holds skateboarding lessons, but a 30-minute session scheduled for Thursday afternoon will be a poignant one for many area residents.

As part of its Go Skateboarding Day celebration, the park is attemping to set a Guinness World Record for the largest skateboarding lesson held in a skate park.

The lesson is going to be held in honor of Thomas Johnson, an 8-year-old Lake Forest boy who died in 2010 after a long battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer affecting the muscle tissues.

"Thomas used to take skateboard lessons at the park and I was one of his teachers," said park coordinator Nick Gates. "He loved skateboarding and I wanted to put together an event in his memory and I thought this was the perfect fit."

Attendees are encouraged to wear orange, the color worn by —a group of Thomas' friends that participates in the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation's annual Cinco de Mayo half-marathon event to raise money for cancer research. (Any donations made at the skate park on Thursday will go to Team Thomas and the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.)

As usual, the park will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Go Skateboarding Day activities will kick off at 3 p.m.

From 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., the park will host an amateur best trick contest.

The attempt at setting a world record will take place at 6 p.m.

According to Gates, the lesson will be "very basic"—amateurs welcome. To be counted as part of the record attempt, participants need to bring a skateboard and helmet and stay for the full 30 minutes.

The lesson will be co-taught by Gates and Etnies owner Pierre-Andre Senizergues.

After the lesson, there will be giveaways and free Rasta Tacos at the park, courtesy of Etnies.

This story has been updated.