Monday Memories
October is National Roller Skating Month! Take the family skating. When I was a young girl, there was a roller rink across from the White Pines State Park, about 7 miles south of our town, near Dixon, Illinois. There is still a rink at that location, but I don't know if it is the same building. The rules certainly look the same. The floor was made of terrazzo, there was an audience seating area, a place to check out skates if you didn't own them, a changing area with nice murals of the area, and a snack bar. I'm not sure when it was built but I remember that my mother used to take us there on Saturday afternoons when I was in grade school, and if she would fall down, all of us would rush over and help her up.
On Sunday afternoons, someone would beg a parent (often my father who didn't seem to mind even though he drove a truck 6 days a week) to drive a carload to the rink. When I was a freshman in high school I dated a senior from Polo, Illinois, called "The Cisco Kid" by my schoolmates because he wore a leather fringed jacket and cowboy boots. He was a wonderful, graceful skater, so in order to keep up, I had to learn too. My skating days outlasted the relationship.
There was a short, plump woman who played the organ. The sides of the rink rolled up in sections like garage doors and the gravel drive way was slopped allowing people in their cars and watch the skaters. Sometimes in the summer you might look out in the dark and see a disgruntled boy in a car, and the ex-girlfriend was skating with someone else. Oh, it was very exciting! In the winter, the rink was all closed up, so you skated in extremely dusty conditions, and when you got home, your hair was gray!
The rink manager would announce certain "skates," and the really good skaters would show their skills--a waltz, or backward skate, or ladies choice, or a progressive skate, where you skated in a large circle and the men moved forward to a new partner. I don't remember the name of the owner, but for awhile in the 1970s my cousin Ron owned it.
First I used my mother's skates, then she gave me my own pair in a fancy blue case for Christmas one year. I think I kept them for over 40 years, and probably donated them when we move here. Skating isn't like riding a bicycle, I discovered. It's a skill that must be used or you forget how to balance. If I were to get on skates today, it would be the same as the very first time--but the bones are not quite as flexible. The last time I was on roller skates was probably in college.
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12 comments:
thanks for sharing
I use to go to the local roller skating rink when I was a girl too
loved going fast didnt get the hang on the stoppers though so use to crash into the wall but it was fun :)
Sounds fun, but I dont know of any one over here!
I've never heard of one ever.
I used to love roller skating! It was one of my favorite things to do when I was young. This is a great memory! Thank you for sharing.
I'm up too.
Oh we used to go skating when I was a teen too! (never when I was a young child though) I was never able to do any of the fancy stuff ... but I got to where I could at least skate pretty fast -- and race with some fella I thought was kinda cute! LOL!
We have a skating rink just a few miles from here - and all of my kids have spent time there at one time or another. It sure doesn't do the business that OUR old rink did though... and it's changed hands many times in it's attempt to stay in business. I hear right now it is holding on by a thread and that the owner is "looking to sell" again. *sigh*
I think the last time I actually put on a pair of skates was about 11 or 12 years ago. Dennis and I were taking turns taking Krysti skating on Tuesday nights while the other took the boys to their soccer or baseball games. One night it was my turn and took a spill! Felt like I had broken my tailbone! That was the END of skating for me! Hmmmm... haven't skied since then either!
Great memory Norma!
Wonderful roll down memory lane! I haven't skated since the boy was about 8. I was never very good with it! I tended to fall down alot! But Joshua loved to skate. Still does as far as I know! Wonderful story Norma. Thanks for sharing it with us! Mine is finally up!
You sure had a great time when you were young. I'm sure you're passing it on too. I remember having roller skates but never got to use it.
Thanks for passing by.
That sounds like a fun activity and such a big part of your younger years memories. It was not a big thing here, that I recall.
I did get some roller blades a few years ago but finally sold them in a garage sale because I wasn't using them much. Pain in my calves plus I was deathly afraid of falling from tripping on a rock or curb.
I used to love to rollerskate! I can't wait until my boys are old enough to start skating so I'll get a chance to do it again. I had my original skates up until about 5 yrs ago. I donated them when I moved. My best friends grandfather used to rollerskate every Saturday until he died at the age of 85. It kept him active and social.
I used to go skating every Saturday morning from 9 to 12 with three 1/2 gallon milk tops. My mom would have her friends collect them for me cause I loved to skate.
We used to roller skate on the sidewalk with these metal wheels attached to our shoes and adjusted with a wing nut!
We also skated at the "Dearborn Civic Center" where we could rent skates. I was terrified of falling as the floor was so hard. (I much prefer falling on ice!)
In high school, before I dated "The Sundance Kid" with the cowboy hat and the fringed jacket (my ex-husband), my boyfriend and I would go to "Skateland West" to skate to disco in the 80's.
I've always loved ice skating and continue to skate to this day. Roller skating has always scared me and I was never very good considering my accomplishments on ice. The the last time I went roller skating was at "Demonstration Hall" at Michigan State and I split my tight velvet jeans...it was still the '80's!
Ooooooh! Skating is fun!
I used to love to skate....years ago!!
In fact, the church we served in Kentucky (while we were in college) had a gym (I use that term lightly) and they had skates so that the area kids could come there and have something to do. It was fun.
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