Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992 TAG: 9201240502
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON EAST CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
SKATING FOR FAMILY
Raymond "Satch" Setchel met his wife at the old Skate-A-Drome skating rink.Karen Conner, owner of Skate Center of Roanoke Valley on Brandon Avenue, met her late husband, Jerry, at the Skate-A-Drome, too, where they were professional freestyle skaters.
And Olympic Roller Skating Center's Ray Ramsey practically grew up at the Skate-A-Drome, skating with the parents who now bring their kids to his place in Vinton.
Says Setchel, owner of Star City Roller Skating Center on Hershberger Road, "Skate together, stay together."
Today, these three rinks feed the roller-skating psyche of the Roanoke Valley - and they're all spinoffs of the long-gone Skate-A-Drome, one of the first skating rinks in the area.
Built about 21 years ago when kids did the hokey pokey, not the high-energy dance step, the Skate-A-Drome made roller skating a family affair. Today, the buzzword at Roanoke rinks is still family, and getting them to do things together is the aim.
"Kids have so many more problems now than when I grew up," says Setchel, who believes these problems could be solved with a little family bonding.
"It's like a family here really, like one big family," says Julie Hodges, who sits with her friend, Jane Bobbitt, almost every Saturday at Skate Center. "We live here!"
Both bring their daughters, Diana Hodges, 8, and Kara Bobbitt, 9.
Friend Claudia Brock brings her son, John, too, and the three ladies share a table in the rink's snack bar while their kids whiz around the rink.
Brock believes skating has helped John's grades improve. "Skating means so much to him that he's got to keep his grades up and do his homework to skate," she explains.
John nods his head in agreement.
But grades and camaraderie aren't all there are to this family thing.
Most families skate together on weekend afternoons, though some prefer weekend nights when young teen-agers are there in droves. Hodges comes often on Friday or Saturday nights. "It's fun to watch them," she says, particularly when they're doing the high-energy dance - kind of a line dance on wheels that . . . you just have to see for yourself.
Old-timers believe that skating has changed over the years. Skate-A-Dromers used to do the Virginia Still, where you skate with a partner around the wall until a whistle blows and you switch. Skate Center's Conner remembers lining up to do the Grand March at the Skate-A-Drome, a line of partners snaking down the rink and separating at the end.
Today's young couples aren't as willing to trade off, Setchel believes. "They don't have rhythm like they used to," either.
Mark Nester of Breckinridge Middle School has skated since he was 5, and he thinks he's learned a lot about the habits of other Star City teen skaters. "Everybody comes here to find a boy or a girl," he says, covering his head and laughing.
His friend, Jason McDonald, 14, agrees - at least with the part about the girls chasing the boys. "It's adolescent love stuff. People come here, girls go to the bathroom and come out crying 'cause they broke up [with their boyfriends], or they meet here and break up, and the girls cry a lot."
"Then they kiss and junk and they're back together at the end of the night," adds Tommy. "And it's the same the next weekend."
Both laugh at their wisdom, then skate off to play Shark, a modern-day tag game where you skate from one end of the rink to the other without getting tagged by the Shark. If you're tagged, you become a Shark offspring and must help.
For owners there's more to running a rink than planning games for skaters and renting skates. They have to keep the floor polished and play the best music. Lights that dance to the music help too.
Additionally, Olympic's Ramsey says he must deal with the recession, which is hurting his rink. "It's slower right now than since I've had it for five years."
All in all, though, business is rolling smoothly. Birthday, church and school parties, and even day care at Star City and Olympic, help keep the doors swinging. All this makes possible opening up on the weeknights, a time when it is usually cheaper to skate.
Roanoke's Charlotte Wilson, 52, makes it a point to meet at Olympic every Tuesday and Thursday night, along with her daughter, Cheryl Price, and granddaughter, Alisha Price, both of Bedford.
It's not just a bonding thing with this three-generation family, though that is partly the reason they meet. As Wilson explains it, it's also a great aerobic workout.
"I can burn off 300 -plus calories an hour," she says, if she does her leg lifts, kicks and adds a little arm work.
Of course, her workouts are likely to get a few stares from other skaters. That's why she prefers the less -crowded weeknights.
Unusual styles aside, Ramsey is pleased by the "mighty pretty skating" at the rink. As he sees it, roller skating - the "stepchild" sport of ice skating - is finally coming around. Roller hockey is going to be an exhibition sport in this year's Olympics, opening the door for other kinds of roller skating competition.
And even if the Olympics aren't your speed, roller skating is practically in your backyard.
Just click your skates three times and recite what so many are saying now: It's great for exercising; it's great for socializing; it's great for family-izing; it's great for keeping out of trouble.
\ ROANOKE VALLEY SKATING RINKS
The Roanoke Valley's skating rinks offer speed, artistic and beginner skating lessons, with a speed skating team at each rink and an artistic skating team at Star City.
They also offer activities for private and birthday parties, many with cakes and drinks furnished. Call for party prices and lesson charges.
OLYMPIC ROLLER SKATING CENTER: 1620 Washington Ave., Vinton. 890-2250. Skate rental, 50 cents, $1.50 speed skate rental. Tuesday-Thursday nights, 7-9:30 p.m., $1.75; Friday, 7 p.m.-midnight, $5; Saturday Slow Rollers, 10 a.m.-noon, children under 12, $2, parents skate free; Saturday, 7-11 p.m., $4; Sunday, 2-5 p.m., $3 or $7.50 family.
SKATE CENTER OF ROANOKE VALLEY: 4121 Brandon Ave. S.W., Roanoke. 989-2000. Skate rental, $1. Wednesday, 7-9:30 p.m., $3; Thursday, contemporary Christian music night, 7-9:30, $2 includes skate rental; Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m.-midnight, $3.50 from 7-10 p.m., $5 whole session; Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon, $3, parents skate free; Saturday-Sunday, 2-4:30 p.m., $3.
STAR CITY ROLLER SKATING CENTER: 140 Hershberger Road, Roanoke. 362-9500. $1 skate rental, $2 speed skate rental. Free admission for parents with child, plus skate rental. Wednesday, 7-9:30 p.m., Wacky Wednesday theme nights with varied admission; Thursday, 7-9:30 p.m., $4 family, $3 person; Friday, 7-midnight, $3.50-$5.50; Saturday, 10:30-11 a.m., $3 includes skate rental and beginner class; Saturday, 2-4:30 p.m., $3; Saturday, 7-11 p.m., $4.50; Sunday, 2-5 p.m., $3.