Everyone Loves to Rollerskate!

Mobilman44 said:
My wife (native Houstonian) grew up in a roller rink and was pretty darn good at it.

I grew up in Chicago and the closest rink was at Riverview (amusement park). Between Christmas presents and my paper boy earnings, I bought a pair of Chicago (brand) skates with fiber wheels and rubber toe stops. With it came a blue metal case. Wow, with my black slacks and blue/black shirt, I was sooo cool (or so I thought).

That lasted a year, until a housefire burnt up all my belongings, including the skate case and skates.

Neither my wife or I have been on skates since our teens, but we both remember the thrills and excitement of gliding along the wooden floors with our friends.
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Awesome story!!!! Thanks for sharing!

Dio and I used to roller skate and 'The Hub' roller rink, in the suburbs of Chicago. At that time, it boasted that it had the world's largest wooden floor!
 

911 said:
I wasn't very good at roller skating, but I was pretty good at ice skating. I enjoyed playing hockey on a pond us kids assembled at and lit a bonfire at night.
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I used to ice skate when I was a kid. For some reason, I liked roller skating better. Maybe because ice skating had a limited window of time, while rolling skating was year around.
 
Pinky said:
I used to go everywhere on my metal roller skates .. you know, the ones that had the key to tighten them onto an old pair of shoes. They were used so much that the wheels developed holes in them.
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YES!!! I learned on those! We called them "street skates!". LOL
 

Sorry to digress, but "ice skating" was mentioned earlier...

My grade school (Brentano - Chicago) had a large playground and in the fall they would dig a trench around a very large area, which allowed a dam to be made from the dug up dirt. When freezing temps were near, they would flood the area and the result was a very smooth, large ice skating rink. Being the school was only two short blocks from our house, I could go there most evenings.

Unlike the cool kids who had hockey skates, I preferred men's figure skates (stops imbedded in the toe of the blades). I was an "almost good" skater, but I do have a "claim to fame". One time flying around a little kid fell in front of me. Without thinking, I jumped and actually went over him, AND landed on my skates when I came down. That was one surprised and thankful kid for sure!
 
Mobilman44 said:
Sorry to digress, but "ice skating" was mentioned earlier...

My grade school (Brentano - Chicago) had a large playground and in the fall they would dig a trench around a very large area, which allowed a dam to be made from the dug up dirt. When freezing temps were near, they would flood the area and the result was a very smooth, large ice skating rink. Being the school was only two short blocks from our house, I could go there most evenings.

Unlike the cool kids who had hockey skates, I preferred men's figure skates (stops imbedded in the toe of the blades). I was an "almost good" skater, but I do have a "claim to fame". One time flying around a little kid fell in front of me. Without thinking, I jumped and actually went over him, AND landed on my skates when I came down. That was one surprised and thankful kid for sure!
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You are much better on ice skates than I am!! If it were me, both of us would have ended up in a tangled heap! LOL
 
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We had a nice drive to the rink today, a bit of rain but not much.

I actually got to skate for about 45 minutes!
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I usually don't have time on the days when we have a morning party.

The party has started and there are more people here than I had expected.

The party is for one of our afternoon "regulars". She invited a bunch of the other afternoon regulars, and they are here too. Since there is only one birthday party for this afternoons session, and most of the regulars are here now, I'm wondering if it might be a slow day. That would be nice!
 
Do to the long drive (80 miles each way), and various health issues, Dio and I no longer "officially" volunteered at the roller rink. Our last day was Nov 2nd.

We are still going to the rink (and helping out), but only if we feel like going.....we aren't on the schedule anymore. This means no more driving at night, or in the rain, etc.

Last Sat we went, and I had a blast skating with my friends!!! It was so much more fun than working behind the snack bar and watching everyone else skate!

It did seem strange though. It was the first time in 17 years (at this rink) that Dio was not the deejay. Even though I think he missed it, he still said that he had a good time.

Having fun, that's what it's all about! 🛼
 
Trila said:
To me, ice skating is harder than rolling skating. I don't have the ankle strength that is needed for ice skating.

So I give you credit!!! ⛸️
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This may sound really dumb, but the reason I could never roller skate was because I could never figure out how to go around the inside of the rink. It was kind of a psychological thing with me. I used to think if the wheels don’t turn, then how can I make the skates turn to go around a corner? So I would skate straight until I came to a turn and stop, turn manually and start skating again until I came to the next turn, stop and start again and etc.

With ice skating, all I did was lean in the direction I wished to turn and kind of slide my skate in that direction. I was really decent on ice skates, especially when we played hockey. It just came natural.
 
911 said:
This may sound really dumb, but the reason I could never roller skate was because I could never figure out how to go around the inside of the rink. It was kind of a psychological thing with me. I used to think if the wheels don’t turn, then how can I make the skates turn to go around a corner? So I would skate straight until I came to a turn and stop, turn manually and start skating again until I came to the next turn, stop and start again and etc.

With ice skating, all I did was lean in the direction I wished to turn and kind of slide my skate in that direction. I was really decent on ice skates, especially when we played hockey. It just came natural.
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It's the same with roller skating.....just lean!
 


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