For many, hours spent whizzing around a roller-skating rink may be only a distant memory.
But the pastime hasn’t died, as visitors to Springfield’s Skate World can see.
Angus Laird, the assistant manager of Skate World, said skaters at the rink are between 8 and 12 years old, on average. The rink has a middle school skate and dance every Friday night, he said. But ’80s music night, held on Sundays, attracts a “more mature” crowd, Laird said.
Adam Kennybrew, a senior at the University, is an amateur skater who goes to Skate World to brush up on his skating skills. Kennybrew said that in his hometown of Los Angeles, people young and old go to the skating rink to hang out.
But the generally youthful age of Skate World’s patrons seems to indicate that phenomenon doesn’t characterize the Eugene area.
Kennybrew offered one possible reason for the difference between his college town and his hometown.
“If people don’t come from a background where skating was ‘in’ or something that was practiced on a regular basis,” he said, “then it is not in the public eye, and people will not want to go.”
College students generally have evening or private events, which are usually sponsored by fraternities and sororities, Laird said. People can rent the rink for private events.
The Zeta Phi Beta sorority has had a couple of skating excursions in the past year.
“There has been a great outcome every time we have our skate event,” President Rashidah Haqq said. “People like the atmosphere, we provide good music and people like to socialize. This type of a function brings everyone together.”
The rink also holds special events, such as a St. Patrick’s Day Night Skate held on March 16, where people skated from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and then had breakfast.
Skate World is located at 3188 Gateway Loop. For more information, call 746-7311 or visit http://www.skateworldonline.com.