On 10th Street - One block East of Avenue H
To hear "Yesterday" again,
click "."
In 1863, an American, James Plimpton, found a way to make a workable skate. He came up with a four-wheel skate with two pairs of wheels side by side & so the modern four wheel roller skate was created. Roller skates allowed turns & also forwards & backwards skating. The invention of ball bearing wheels in 1884 helped the sport even more.
Modern-day quad skate
The
email about June and Woody's skating rink brought memories flooding back. I
am sure that I am one of the oldest skaters that once spent nearly every Sunday
afternoon going around in circles. I don't remember when the rink opened but I
am sure that I skated there in my junior and senior years. I graduated in
1941. June and Woody lived in the rink and I remember Ted and Fred as
little ones looking over the rails at us. Because it was so well
run, it was one of the places that my parents would let me go and spend the
entire afternoon. I do remember one incident in which June took complete
control. One young man decided that Woody could not tell him how to behave
and began to exert himself. June quickly and efficiently took care of the
situation with a well placed swing of a pair of skates. We all have
special memories of the places where we were happy, carefree and safe. Woody
and June's skating rink was such a place.
Best Wishes and Happy Memories.
Elva Schoenrock
I
was 9 years old when dad sold and we moved to mom's current house. We
lived in top. I remember dad getting upset about the toilets in back
getting turned over and also getting upset about people dropping bb's on the
skate floor. When you hit one of them-you fall. I remember the
organ music when mom would tuck us in and then go back downstairs. I
remember strawberry pop and delaware punch. Us boys had to clean up the
seating areas in the mornings after of bottles and candy. We also had to
scrape the gum off the skate wheels. Being so young, I don't have the
same type of memories that you would have. But my memories were darn
good.
Bill
Billingsley
I spent several
hours at the skating rink, putting peanuts in my coke and busting my buns a few
times. I often wondered later, why they didn't convert it into a gym for
the youth of Levelland.
Dick Bailey
Thanks
for including dad's roller rink in the history of Levelland. I have some
pertinent data for you. The proper name was WOODY'S ROLLER RINK. Dad
built it in 1937 and it burnt down three days after completion. After
it was rebuilt, it was in operation until 1950. Dad leased it out
in 1944-1946 while he was in the Army. In those days, the number
of skaters determined the capacity-there were no fire codes. There were
guys that helped the skaters put their skates on. They were
called "buckle boys." The most popular buckle boy was
"Bunkie." The skates were attached to
your regular shoes with clamps. These skates were provided by
the rink. Many of the better skaters owned their own lace up
shoe skates. A couple of the better known skaters were Bill Bailey
and Bill Worley. I will be in Levelland in a couple of weeks with
mom and will try to find a picture of the roller rink. Again, many
thanks.
Fred Weaver
Wilson Toombs,
Royce Macon and Marvin Toombs use to go to the skating rink on Saturday nights
after working all day for Furrs. We skated the the last set, then
we would go the Kirks Drive In and see how many Super Dogs we could eat.
Had some great times there.
Marvin & Peggy Toombs
I
lived in Levelland in 1950 & 1951. At the time my name was Frankie
Magee. We lived behind the rink. We could sit on our back porch
and listen to the music and watch people skate. We were friends of
Jackie Brown and his family. Jackie and I skated there together some of
the time. Mostly I was thought of as a tagalong totsie.
Jackie was four years older than me. I skated mostly with my younger
sister Pamela. I could lay in bed at night and listen to the music and
sound of the skating.
I recently married Jackie in 2001 after not seeing each other for 27yrs.
As I had moved to Houston. We are living a wonderful life together.
We have a lot of fond memories of Levelland. Such as Kirks Super Dog
Stand, Dairy Queen, and Dairy Mart. We are now living in Tomball, Texas.
I remember the terrible sand storms. I just hated them.
We visited Levelland in July 2002 for the 57 class reunion. Jackie sure
enjoyed seeing his classmates. I just can't remember any classmates from
when I lived there. I did enjoy seeing the Town and it brought back a
lot
of childhood memories.
Frankie Lanette Brown
I just clicked on to the Weaver Skating Rink site for the first time. The memories overwhelmed me. I remembered, I met the love of my life for the very first time on the way to the rink in my 1951 Studebaker. I stopped and picked up Virginia Smith and Rosa Lee Johnson and gave them a ride to the rink. Little did I know then, that I would marry Virginia. She was just a kid going skating. AWWW, thank God for the beautiful memories. That's been over 55 years ago. Regards,
Jack Van Ness
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Odessa, Texas
432/366-64770