Dear Kathy,
We were so sorry to hear about Luella and Eileen.  Just seems like a short time ago that we were watching Luella skating... and listening to Eileen playing the organ.  Time marches on all too fast!  I was especially remembering the song that Eileen always STARTED and ENDED each session with a special song.  Forgive me, but for the life of me I can't remember that song, and I so enjoyed skating to each session when she played at the rink. Can you fill me in?  And, is that particular song included on any of the CD's that she has advertised?  Thanks for all the great news on the Skaters Gazette!  Keep up the good work!    Joan Reddin

 Hi Joan,
Chester told me the name of the tune and I forgot it.  However, Chester will be sending you a tape with Eileen playing the tune you seek.  He will also share the name of the tune with you.  Hopefully, he’ll remember it!   Happy Skating, Kathy

RSG May 2007...Hi Kathy.
 I hope this reaches you.  With a new pc, I finally found your e-mail to add.  I had tried e-mailing you a few months back about one of your interesting stories.  Today, a very depressing article sent me about two rinks in the San Diego area closing. What was all the good news recently about the sport making a rink comeback???  About roller skates on the rebound?  I hope it does apply. Maybe San Diego is an anomaly.  But, looking at the recent issue of the Skating magazine out of Lincoln, I was stunned to read about the total number of amateur participants in the country.  It looks very very bleak.  The sport, I fear, has only itself to blame for selling out years ago to the European snobs on wheels.  Sorry I said that, but that's international dance.  Not a nice message, I know -- I yearn for the Ghost to return and lecture us! Really, I hope it's not this bad, but I fear...Anyway, I am enjoying the Gazette, and I look forward, when next in L.A. going to Dominic's Moonlight on a Tuesday to enjoy his great organ music.
All Best,  David Lewis

Dear David,
I hate to say I told you so, but remember when I wrote an article called, “Where do we go from here?” (RSG July 2003, Volume 7, Issue 9)  I predicted that in 5 years time, unless something was done, the sport we grew up in would be gone.  Well, I think that has happened, and in a shorter time span than I predicted. I wrote that article in the hopes that people in our sport would sit up and take notice of things going on around them.  BUT,  you are right…our sport will never be the same.    The numbers are down, for a very long time, and the people running things are only just now acknowledging it.  They are about 20 or30  years behind the times.  After the great merger in 1972, things began to decline.  Those of us who noticed and showed concern were told it was part of a 7 year cycle and things would begin to get better soon. Well, we’re still waiting for the cycle to swing the other way!

Without thinking too hard, I can come up with a few reasons we arrived to where our sport is today.  One reason…Desire for our sport to become “Olympic”.  Roller skating is not and never will be an Olympic Sport.  If it hasn’t happened by now, it’s not going to happen anytime soon!  And if, by some chance it did happen, it wouldn’t be good for the sport.  It would only be another reason for athlete’s to have to pay higher prices for equipment, practice time, lessons, etc.  As I stated in an article called “Olympic Dreams” (RSG August 2005, Volume 10, Issue 10)     

 “At this time our roller skating sport is so very fragile, Olympic inclusion might bring about the end of our sport though financial crisis to our members.  Limping along for decades, with a decrease in rinks, coaches, and skaters can we afford to enter the Olympic Arena?  Do we want to be part of the political agenda that the Games seem to foster?  Perhaps its best that we wait till we have our numbers back up, our programs in place, our funding and sponsors in place, and our judges, coaches and athletes primed and ready to go before our sport becomes part of the Olympic Dream.  For now at least, the timing is not right.  We have so much work to do just to keep our sport alive, well and growing, that our focus cannot shift for us to begin learning the things we need to know to be part of the Games!  We need to look and forge ahead, to the future, the time for our sport has yet to come.”

Another reason, our sport depends on too many volunteers!  It is not professional at all.  Only a handful of people run our sport, the rest are volunteers—from the judges, to the regional chair people, to the meet directors, to the tabulators, to the director of coaches, to the people that make up committees, etc.  The only people paid are the coaches for the private lessons, the rinks for the club time and classes, and the few people at National Office who work for USA Roller Sports.  Not very many of those people even have a background in skating.  How can you run a sport when you don’t know anything about it?  You depend on volunteers in the sport! Love of roller skating sport can only go so far…Volunteer work doesn’t put food on the table and pay the bills.  And after a while people get tired of giving up their vacation time to go and work free at the regional and national championships.

Then there is the saying, follow the money.  Our sport is losing money every year. There is money lost from lack of new members and from lack of funding.  Remember all the money for roller skating sport coming from the IOC funding during the late 70s-90s.  Now, our sport doesn’t get much funding, but way back when there was plenty of money.  Where did it go?  People in our sport are still trying to get an answer.

As for recreational roller skate sales…they are on the rebound…thanks to “roller derby!”  Many rinks are now hosting roller derby practices/ functions and packing in the general public to watch.  Roller Derby has brought the “Fun” back into the rinks.  I have been told by rink operators in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts that roller derby nights bring in  anywhere from 300-800 people in attendance, paying up to $10 per person.  When was the last time 300-800  people attended a public skating session?  Roller Derby may not help artistic sport, but it does help out rink businesses.

In the end,  it doesn’t really matter who, what or where our sport went wrong…that debate has gone on forever with coaches, skaters, rink operators, and national office being blamed.  It’s time to put all that aside and figure out what to do to fix it.  Does anybody have any ideas???  If so, please share with the rest of us.

Happy Skating, Kathy

RSG April 2007...Hope all is well in the skating community.  This past Tuesday night, the CBS Sunday Morning show taped a feature at the Montvale Skating Rink in New Jersey, for broadcast this Sunday Morning.  The feature is about roller skating at the Montvale rink which will close later on this year after 35 years in business.  Many of the skaters were interviewed, most notably Chester Fried and Ken Casper.  Billy Fellows was at the organ (playing very well I might add) and it was a great session that was taped for airing this Sunday morning, March 11th.  CBS became interested in the subject when they came across the “Organ Night” article.

 I skated the session and everyone was reminiscing about the "old" days.  For those of you who have never been there, many skaters pasted thru that rink on their way to stardom in the 70's, 80's and 90's.  It was always a very nice facility and the floor was excellent for dance. 

 Another interesting event occurred this past February in Kissimmee, FL at The Skate Reflections Rink.  Larry Cole hosted the 6th Adult Skate Extravaganza and he could not have made all the skaters feel more welcome.  The facility was first rate with one of the best skating surfaces I've ever been on.  It was well attended by skaters from Arizona to Massachusetts and everywhere in between.  But the highlight of the event was the music that played on for four days.  Nick Viscuso is surly one of the finest rink musicians in the country.   We practice to his music but to hear it live is as good as it gets.  And the icing on the cake are the visiting musicians from around the country who take the time to show us what they got.  Those great musicans include Billy Fellows, George Smith, Steve Daniels, Doug Moyer & Lonnie Brooks.  (Forgive me if I've left someone out.)  It's a win-win situation for us skaters.  Larry brought the local TV station in and Senior Skaters was on their local channel 13 news.Many thanks to Larry and his fine staff for making the event a very pleasant one.  I look forward to next year. 

 Hope to see you all at Nationals in Omaha.   Bill Davis

RSG March 2007...Gentlemen:
A friend of mine gave me her newsletter to read and I thoroughly enjoyed the article about the “Mineola Skating Rink”.  I started skating at Mineola in the early 50s and have fond memories of all the skating good times we had there.  Bobbie Weedon was the organist and she sure kept us rolling to very enjoyable music.  I also have many of many of the pictures that were on the walls at Mineola.In 1957 we got word that Mineola was going to be torn down, which everyone was upset about.  I switched over to Levittown Rink and George and Gladys Werner were my pros.  I won novice dance in 1957 along with my partner Wayne Kent.  Nationals that year were held at Riverside Arena in Livonia, Michigan.

 Over the years, I got married, had children and retired to Florida.  Two years ago I started skating at Spinnations in Port Richey, Florida.  I still can’t believe that after all these years that I am skating again.  I skate with the seniors three times a week and love it just as much as I did as a youngster.  I’m even doing the forward dances and some of the turn dances.  The floor just seems a little harder than it did when I was 15!!  Anyway, thank you for your time and I am looking forward to receiving my first Newsletter.  You do a terrific job. Very truly yours, Carol Wagenseil Haselton

 Dear Carol,
Thank you for your great letter.  We are always glad to hear about our readers and their adventures in roller skating.  Skaters that grew up in rinks that leave the sport for one reason or another always seem to return.  Some come back to compete, others to stay in shape, and others to rekindle old friendships.  Regardless of the reasons, we are always happy to hear about skaters coming home to the rink.  Congratulations on your new adventures on wheels—try some of the new dances printed in the Gazette, and have a ball making new friends.  We’re glad you came back. Happy Skating,  Kathy

 

RSG March 2007...Hi Kathy,
While roller skating has gone through it’s many ebbs and tides, we die-hards will always endeavor to keep it going and breath some fresh air into it as often and in every way possible.  Rather than bemoan the state of roller skating, I choose to relish it because I know that in a few years, these will be remembered as “the good old days.”  When I was a youth, there weren’t many TV’s, computers, video games or IPOD’s.  We pretty much made our own fun of which roller skating on the asphalt streets was a big part.  Until we discovered the local rink, that changed things for us in a big way. The world is changing and with a global economy, everyone including kids has to change with it.  Our young people have been offered a smorgasbord of things to entertain and challenge them.  The focus of how they can spend their leisure time has changed.  Leisure activities for young people are so much more diverse.  I know some of the kids at our rink are involved in acting, modeling, school sports as well as roller skating.  I think that is healthy.  Unfortunately, the consequences of this are fewer roller skaters.  So, as proffered in the past so often, we must continue t induce more youngsters to participate in our sport.  Say Hi to Chester for me.  Sincerely, Bob Brown

 Dear Bob,
Thank you for your words of wisdom.  You give us all a lot to think about.  You are right about the world changing.  It’s getting smaller and very technical with the advances in computer technology.  Encouraging our youth to actually participate in physical activity is a must!  Obesity and the health problems that go with being overweight is a real problem, especially in children.  Regretfully, with cut backs in the school systems, funding for sports programs are disappearing.  Our children need to be encouraged to get off the couch, shut off the television, log off the computer, stop talking on the phone and/or put away the video game and get outside and start moving.  It doesn’t matter if it’s playing at the playground, taking a walk or going roller skating—children today need to be taught to be physical! 
People that leave skating to go to college, get married, take a job or just get on with life, often return to the skating sessions with children or grandchildren of their own.  There are others that return to skating when empty nest syndrome attacks and they need a physical activity to fill their time.  It doesn’t matter the reasons for the return, it just proves what wonderful memories we all have of our skating sport.  It’s these memories that make roller skating a family activity to be shared by all.  The world may be changing, but one thing remains constant—we all love to roller skate!  Thanks for your article and for your letter.  Happy Skating, Kathy

 

RSG March 2007...Hi Kathy! 
We just received copies of the RS Gazette that Chester sent to us.  Many thanks for your thoughtfulness. and for our award!  I know I'm too late to guess the Mystery Photo but, looking at it this afternoon, my guess would have been:  Bob LaBriola and Ruthie Heeseman???  We enjoy this portion of the paper.  We were sorry to hear about Donald's passing, we remember him well.  Thank Chester for us, he's a great guy!  Also, it was nice talking with you last week.  Keep up the good work, it is much enjoyed by so many skaters!  Sincerely, Joan Reddin

 Dear Joan,
I thank you for your entry in the “Sweetheart Story” contest and I hope you enjoyed your dinner out at the Olive Garden with your family.  As for your Mystery Photo guess, you have the right lady with the wrong man, so you wouldn’t have won anyhow, but thank you for playing Mystery Photo! Just so you know, I really enjoyed our phone call last week.  It was fun reminiscing about our sport, it’s just too bad we can’t turn back the clock. We’ll always remember skating to a full crowd when we competed.  I look forward to another conversation sometime soon.  Until then…Happy Skating, Kathy