Community Chat

[VioletEyes]

Morning Lilac Tree! I remember a rink in Bergenfield that I noticed closed in 95'. My son and daughter used to go to birthday parties there.

Jones Beach on Long Island also had an outdoor rink. When we used to visit my cousins back in the day, we used to skate.

Hope all is well with you. Update us on how you are doing on the Can We Talk thread. Missing you....

[LilacTree]

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@Greenhouse wrote:

@LilacTree -  I don't remember what happened to my skating stuff either.... I guess my dad threw mine out too when I went to nursing school.  We often drive past the old Bayonne skating ring site on our way to SI and I feel a pang of sadness.  The times there were fun, wholesome and innocent.  

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Yes they were, weren't they?  I know had my mom been alive, our skating stuff wouldn't have been thrown out.  But men are different and I'm sure my father didn't even think that was something I would want, as I was living in VA then and had four babies.

Years later when I was living and working in SJ, our firm had a roller skating party and I put on skates for the first time in 30 years.  I couldn't believe I didn't forget one thing, I skated like I had been skating all the while.  Loved it!

[Burnsite]

I loved the high-top skates at the rink, as my lo-tech bottom-of-shoe skates were always falling off and bringing me to grief as a sidewalk skater.

The "real" skates at the rink really helped with stability.  I loved to skate.  Our Girl Scout troup regularly traveled the 7 miles or so to the nearest Hammond-organ equipped rink.  Those were happy afternoons.

[LilacTree]

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@VioletEyes wrote:

Morning Lilac Tree! I remember a rink in Bergenfield that I noticed closed in 95'. My son and daughter used to go to birthday parties there.

Jones Beach on Long Island also had an outdoor rink. When we used to visit my cousins back in the day, we used to skate.

Hope all is well with you. Update us on how you are doing on the Can We Talk thread. Missing you....

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Hi VE!  I find it difficult to post on the Can We Talk thread because it is pretty much about stuff I can't contribute to and I don't want to talk about my RA and stuff like that, as I've been harshly criticized for getting too personal.  And I don't cook either, LOL!  But I will get back there soon. 

Thank you for "missing me" though, that was a nice compliment.

[LilacTree]

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@feline groovy wrote:

O/T, but I just came across a very Jersey-centric photo:

two teachers who met and fell in love in the Kenilworth/Roselle Park area, exit 138 off the Garden State Parkway, where this photo was taken

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I'm not familiar with this area, JSS . . . but great photo!!

[LilacTree]

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@feline groovy wrote:

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@LilacTree wrote:

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@feline groovy wrote:

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@Puzzle Piece wrote:

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@feline groovy wrote:

Grrreat... an oldies thread.

;-)

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Ah ha ha ha ha......................................................

Sorry Lilac Tree, the response struck me as funny.  I suffer from O.A. (Old Age).  Sorry your roller rink went down.  I used to like to watch Roller Derby when it was on in black and white broadcasting.  Don't know if your roller rink was ever featured.  Enjoyed seeing the L.A. Thunderbirds vs. The Texas Outlaws or just about anyone.  It was all enjoyable nonsense

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Thanks.  

Love your "O.A.", LOL.

I thought that Lilac Tree would instantly get the wry/dry/sly humor, but added a winky just in case.

Oh, well...

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I always enjoy your humor, JSS . . . you know that!

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Good to hear you haven't lost yours, JSS!  

I was wondering, as you hadn't responded to my post.

(not that I expect anyone to, to any of mine LOL)

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Really?  I think you are very popular here, JSS!!  I always try to respond to posts on threads that I start.  I hope I'm not falling down on the job!!

[LilacTree]

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@Mama Mia wrote:

So much fun, wonderful music, maybe a special boy or two for doubles or triples, just fun. And then there were the very good skaters, guys usually, who would be out in the middle.

Before that, I had  skates with a key and skated all over where there were good sidewalks,So much fun if you didn't fall and skin your knees.

When I retired I was 55, so where I lived, Hdsn. Nv, there was  a skating rink on Boulder Highway where they started Sr. skating lessons and what a turnout!! Of course, I had to about relearn it. 

There were some very good skaters there too, we were drawing people from all over the Valley as the man who was directing and teaching it had been a skating star in Minneapolis/ It isn't funny, but since everyone was older, a lot fell down and got hurt. Well, this old girl kept going until I felt I could buy my own shoe skates, about $300.00. insteading of renting. Before I did, I fell and really twisted my knee, so that ended my career.LOL

mm

mm

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I'm so sorry to hear that, MM.  I could never skate again either.  Little by little, it all seems to go.  My biggest challenge right now is learning to type on my new ergonomic keyboard! 

[LilacTree]

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@VCamp2748 wrote:

Oh, gosh.  That takes me back to my early teens.  My favorite rink has been a Harley Davidson store for many years now.

Only last night I was thinking about how much I miss going to the drive in movies on a hot Saturday night during the summer.  We'd stop for pizza on the way, or just take snacks from home.

Some of the "good old days" weren't so great, but some really were, weren't they?

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Yes they were. 

[LilacTree]

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@twinny70 wrote:
Lilac Tree, THANKS for the memories. Our "Roller Den" was built around 1960 & is still used as a skating rink & banquet hall too. We skated there until we graduated from HS in 1966. We didn't wear the short skating skirts. Just nice slacks & top or sweater. We paid $1.00 if we had our own skates which we did. Our skates were white lace ups with wooden wheels & ball bearings NOT ceramic wheels. We had the pom poms & a metal skate case to match the skates. The music was great too but played on I think 78's. We also skated on the sidewalk across the street from our house at our grade school with the metal skates with a key to tighten them. How cool it was to wear the key around our necks. I remember falling sometimes when one skate would come loose & come off with us dragging it behind us. We thought that we were skate queens. We ice skated too at the local ice rink (outside) or at my parents cabin on the lake. Our dad was a good skater but my mom never did get the hang of it. Our kids roller bladed but I never did do that. Now I would break every bone in my body if I would try skating after all these years.

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I'm so glad you said that.  I could have sworn our new skates that long ago Christmas had wooden wheels, but as usual, thought I was remembering wrong when someone said that wasn't possible.  I am so unsure of my memories nowadays.

[feline groovy]

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@LilacTree wrote:

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@feline groovy wrote:

O/T, but I just came across a very Jersey-centric photo:

two teachers who met and fell in love in the Kenilworth/Roselle Park area, exit 138 off the Garden State Parkway, where this photo was taken

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I'm not familiar with this area, JSS . . . but great photo!!

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Thought you and the other Jersey babes would like it, JSS.  8)

It's in central NJ, my hometown area.

Except I was exit 135, LOL.