Chico >> It was a matter of perfect timing for Brent Schneider.

Schneider, co-owner of Parttime Skateboards, a company based in Chico, decided to volunteer Wednesday morning at the Humboldt Neighborhood Skate Park.

A day of volunteering spiraled into a 30-minute skate session with renowned professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

“Well it was the right place, right time,” Schneider said during a phone interview that evening. “I’ve been volunteering quite a bit out there and just happened to be volunteering today. And (Hawk) showed up.”

Hawk was in Chico for a business meeting with Grindline Skatepark Design and Construction.

Bryan Houston, Schneider’s business partner at Parttime Skateboards, said Hawk was in town to test out the bowl and get a feel for the dimensions, adding that he wants Grindline to build something similar in North Carolina.

Schneider got to skate the bowl alongside Hawk, who posted a video of the two skating on Instagram.

“He really liked the pool, it was fun and he liked it,” Schneider said. “He’s the world’s most famous skateboarder, everyone knows who Tony Hawk is — it’s exciting to skate with Tony Hawk.”

Schneider, Houston and their third partner Jon Yunker started Parttime Skateboards about six years ago.

The company specializes in making shirts, hats and skateboards and also assembles skateboards for kids around Christmas time.

“The three of us are some old guy skaters who started a skateboard company in the local area about five or six years ago,” Schneider said. “Keep the dream alive so to speak.”

Hawk’s visit was originally supposed to be an under-the-radar occasion, but a post on Hawk’s Instagram with a photo tagged at the Chico skate park captioned “Fronty blunty during a sneak peek of the new Chico park today” blew up on social media.

The Humboldt Neighborhood Skate Park is owned by the Chico Area Recreation and Park District.

Terry Zeller, who is CARD’s point person for the skate park, said he’d heard Hawk was in town, but no one from CARD was told.

“If he was here, it was by the invitation of the contractor.”

Zeller said the skate park is still closed while undergoing renovation and isn’t expected to be open until mid-March.

Reached at his Seattle office, Micah Shapiro of Grindline, who helped design the Chico renovation, said “I can not confirm or deny” that Hawk was in town, but laughed after that statement.

Scott Bailey of Fix Chico Skatepark, the nonprofit skateboard group, responded to an email question, “He was here for a meeting with Grindline and skated our new bowl. I found out after he left.”

Hawk’s stay in Chico wasn’t for long as the skateboarder posted online that he was on a plane at an airport around 5 p.m. An email to Hawk’s management team was not returned by deadline.

““What’s cool is the No. 1 skateboarder is interested in our skatepark,” Houston said. “That puts Chico on the map.”

As for Hawk visiting again in the near future, Schneider didn’t rule it out. Nothing is officially planned, but skateboarders will usually find their way to the nearest park.

“There’s not a planned visit but skateboarders travel up and down the I-5, and I think that it’s a destination for sure. If someone’s in the area, they’ll come by now,” Schneider said. “He said he liked it. It was fun.

He could come by you never know.”