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‘We had fun here’
By Jim Troyer
There were as many ghosts at Brownsdale’s Rohler Rink Saturday night as there were skaters.
After all, it was a reunion event, a celebration of all the skaters over all those years since 1955.
“We had 900 in here one night in the early ‘70s,” Ron Staples recalled “We had six buses”.
Nostalgia for that glorious past was in the air, in the eyes of the older skaters and in the pictures of boys in suits and girls in formal dresses, that were taken during the King and Queen skater pageants of the past.
Some of the youngsters who arrived at the back door 30 minutes before the 7 p.m. opening worried that “with all those adults coming, they might not let us in?”
At least one of the group, was skating in the street. Gunner Scott, 13, said that wasn’t unusual. The ‘inline’ or blade’ skates are better suited to that than the traditional 4-wheeled roller skates.
Three adults, young looking women who graduated from high school in the ’80s, waited in their car. Shelley Downs said she put her skates on at home that afternoon to get ready for the evening skate. “I went skipping down the hardwood stairs and hung on to the pool table to get around it.” Though not as speedy as some, she seemed quite in control on the rink.
The doors opened at 7 p.m. on the spot and the music began with the Bay City Rollers 1970s number “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night! Gonna keep on dancin’ to the rock ‘n’ roll.”
While it did not become the Rohler Rink until the Rohls, Brett and Ronda, bought it in 2005, people have been skating on the spot at the south end of Brownsdale since 1955. The rink burned down in 1959, but owners Mark and Vesta Staples rebuilt and reopened in December that year.
If roller-skating is fun by itself, it’s even better with music. That’s the role of DJ/Manager Jeremy Rohl. “I always try to provide a variety of music to please as many as possible,” he said. “Of course, we take requests too.”
In the boom days of the ‘60s and into the ‘80s, there were three rinks in the area. The Staples sold out to son Del and his wife, Beverly, and opened a rink in Waseca. A third rink, in a building that now houses the American Legion, opened in Dodge Center. Both have since closed. Rohler Rink’s nearest competitor is in Harmony.
Brett says the family business is doing well. “We get 150 to 200 on a Friday night,” he said. “They come from all around, Mankato, Faribault, Albert Lea, Austin and Owatonna.
The business keeps 450 pairs of roller blades and 650 roller skates on hand for rent. At 216 by 50 feet, its rink is the largest in the Midwest.
Debbie Distad recalled skating at the rink in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “I spent my whole allowance here,” she said. “I paid to get in and still had enough for a pop and a candy bar, all for 75 cents. My allowance was $1.50, so I could come twice.”
“We had fun here,” she added.
Megan Root, 13, and Roxy Burback, 14, both from Austin, were there. “There are more young people at the rink on Friday nights when there’s a bus,” said Roxy.
“You don’t have to be quiet in here,” said Megan. “You can sing along to the songs.”