Click where it says 2009 Championships and you can view a gallery of nice photos. I posted this only to show the type of roller skating I was interested in years ago. I believe there are many people that have never seen skating like this on roller skates, even if they have on ice, by watching the Olympics or a sports program.
Have fun, come again and I am sure I will be taking a few twists and turns before the story is told.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
The 4th picture was one taken at the rink. If I remember correctly they even had a yearbook of students put out each year, this was for that. They had king and queen contests, some really fun things came out of that rink. The practices went on for weeks it seemed like before the shows. I can not remember for sure but I think these costumes were over about a two year period of time.
Yes, I kept at the lessons, got a good pair of skates of my own and made it into some of the shows put on at the rink.
There was a lot of work to it and a lot of failure at times. One of the main obstacles was having a good pair of skates. The ones to be rented were not in the best of shape even though the man behind the counter seemed to be working on skates all day long. For the jumps especially you needed the base to be extra strong. Finally one Christmas I did get the skates. I have to admit they made a difference in my abilities. Poor mom had to make all the costumes which were designed to specifications so they all came out looking the same. Some kids I am sure had to hire someone to do this but luckily I had a talented and resourceful mom. The first picture was my least favorite of any of the costumes. I was a purple people eater. While the song was darling and the routine was fun, the silly horned purple people eater hats found at a five and dime were a little over the top. The tunic was purple satin, the straps were yellow oil cloth with some big silver sequins on it and the tights were red. The hat of course matched the concept with a yellow horn on top that you could remove and blow.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The skirt.........
The picture on the profile is of my first skate skirt. You may have guessed by now that the "roll" is about roller skating. I was about 6 or 7 in the photo and I was very proud of that skirt. I had been wearing jeans to the rink on Saturday afternoons for a while to keep down the occurance of raspberries on the knees.
I got my first sidewalk skates some earlier and loved every minute of it, even though the cracks and uneven places in the sidewalk were murder. I did not even know that there was such a thing as roller rinks but mom did. Soon I was going every Saturday afternoon.
Once I got where I was upright most all the time I started begging mom for lessons. I noticed a group of kids that could do the most fantastic things on skates. I really had my doubts that I could but I was determined to try. I was really proud of myself because this was something I was doing completely on my own. There was not one kid from my school going to the rink on a regular basis and certainly none from my school taking lessons.
The rink was a large one and had 4 instructors on a professional standing, 2 men and 2 women. I don't think everyone knew there was a time when roller skating (while a popular past time in my youth) was also every bit as beautiful and athletic as the ice skating you see in the Winter Olympics. While many towns during the 50's and 60's had rinks, I don't think a lot of them had the professionals on hand and the lessons available. I had a lot to learn and was a little disappointed that the first lessons consisted of doing the figures. This was to teach control and strength. With one push off you had to be able to get around the figure 8. Each level had to be passed before you could go on and learn anything else.
After I began the lessons it meant that I was spending the biggest part of every Saturday at the rink. Lessons were in the morning and I would have a hot dog for lunch at the rink and stay for the afternoon skate that lasted until 5 p.m. Never was I bored, the only thing that bothered me was that I wanted to be able to do more and do it better.
There will be more to come later. I hope I spark some fond memories for some and maybe even a little inspiration before this is all over.
I got my first sidewalk skates some earlier and loved every minute of it, even though the cracks and uneven places in the sidewalk were murder. I did not even know that there was such a thing as roller rinks but mom did. Soon I was going every Saturday afternoon.
Once I got where I was upright most all the time I started begging mom for lessons. I noticed a group of kids that could do the most fantastic things on skates. I really had my doubts that I could but I was determined to try. I was really proud of myself because this was something I was doing completely on my own. There was not one kid from my school going to the rink on a regular basis and certainly none from my school taking lessons.
The rink was a large one and had 4 instructors on a professional standing, 2 men and 2 women. I don't think everyone knew there was a time when roller skating (while a popular past time in my youth) was also every bit as beautiful and athletic as the ice skating you see in the Winter Olympics. While many towns during the 50's and 60's had rinks, I don't think a lot of them had the professionals on hand and the lessons available. I had a lot to learn and was a little disappointed that the first lessons consisted of doing the figures. This was to teach control and strength. With one push off you had to be able to get around the figure 8. Each level had to be passed before you could go on and learn anything else.
After I began the lessons it meant that I was spending the biggest part of every Saturday at the rink. Lessons were in the morning and I would have a hot dog for lunch at the rink and stay for the afternoon skate that lasted until 5 p.m. Never was I bored, the only thing that bothered me was that I wanted to be able to do more and do it better.
There will be more to come later. I hope I spark some fond memories for some and maybe even a little inspiration before this is all over.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Brand new at this...
Give me a few days to organize and make notes. I am completely new to the idea of blogging. I intend to write about a time in my life that was very important and very "forming" of me. You will have to be at least about fifty years old to relate to what I will have to say.
I simply have always wanted to put some things into words, and this is a way to publish.
I simply have always wanted to put some things into words, and this is a way to publish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)