Medford mail tribune., May 11, 1958, Image 44

J .
To 20 million
skating enthusiasts,
there's nothing like
ROLLING ALONG !
Ian discovered the wheel many
centuries ago but it has
never given him so much fun
as it does today!
With 20 million Americans patron
izing the nation's roller-skating rinks,
the one-time childhood diversion
has become a wholesome and pleas
ant recreation for every member of
the family.
The moment she puts on her
roller skates, Sis casts reality aside
and for an hour or two she is a
prima ballerina, gracefully gliding
her way through a throng of ad
mirers. Her beau is transformed
into a dazzling knight errant. And
by Leland and Rita Puttcamp
even Grandfather recaptures the
foot-loose fancies of youth.
Probably the most dedicated to
being "good skates" are the young
sters who do dances and figures on
wheels. They devote long hours to
mastering this art, studying and
practicing continually.
Visit a rink almost any evening
and you'll see young couples per
fecting their tango, hardly conscious
there are other skaters on the floor.
Long-legged lads will be trying
jumps, squats, and whirls.
The best products of America's
4,000 family and neighborhood rinks
go on to match their prowess in a
if
series of competitions sponsored by
the Roller-Skating Rink Operators
of America. These will be climaxed
by the American Amateur Roller
Skating Championships to be held
in Cleveland in July.
Competing for trophies will be
1,200 finalists from every state as.
well as from Canada, Alaska, and
Hawaii. And typical of their enthu
siasm, is the story of 16-year-old
Bobby "Smith, who hitchhiked 2,500
miles from his home in Louisville,
Ky., to enter last year's champion
ships in Oakland, Calif.!
The advent of roller-skating as a
healthy family sport dates back to
Exuberance of youth is magnified on
wheels, and the earlier they learn
the sooner they develop confidence.
Ah! But roller skating, like life,
has its ups and downs. Serious in
jury, however, is rare in this sport.
1937, when a group of rink operators
in Detroit organized a trade associ
ation. They adopted reforms such as
regulations on dress and behavior,
which eventually "won approval of
the pastime from even the most
particular parents.
The newest offshoot of the sport
is roller-hockey which, while not as
rough as ice hockey, requires the
same fast footwork. There are five
players to a team instead of six, and
a ball is used in place of a puck.
But whether you're a roller
hockey fan or just an I-havent-fallen-once-tonighter,
you can roll
up a lot of fun on wheels!
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Once out of novice stage, roller skater can try free-wheeling acrobatics. Many
w w-ii win !MK"il TMMUllMWHH ill HI1IIH V
real grace at it.
Family Weekly, May 11, 1951