Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

Skaters recapture classic fun at Myrtle Beach area rinks new and old

Anyone could tell this was not a school night, but the crowd wanted to engage in something known as "old school" and cool: roller skating.

On the night before Thanksgiving, the line for admissions ran out the door at Fun Warehouse, between Surfside Beach and Socastee, five days after its grand opening.

Waiting among a smiling, patient crowd, some of the families and groups of teens chatted about having a second indoor rink to roll on wheels, besides the Dream Land Skating Arena, which opened north of Conway in December 2005.

During a break in the skating session at Fun Warehouse for skating races by age and gender, Dennis Walker of Murrells Inlet remembered his childhood and many outings at the former Rollerdrome in suburban Cleveland.

"That was where we'd go out, and see girls," he said, sporting a blue Boise State Broncos T-shirt. "It's fun, good exercise."

Seeing the new rink teeming with youth encouraged him, especially because he sees the outlet as a tool for helping people stay active in an increasingly heavier population.

"Look how many kids are here," he said. "It's good, clean fun."

Walker and wife Rebecca brought their three children to show them a part of their youth, and they took turns skating with the two younger ones, Dennis, 6, and Logan, 4.

"That's what we'd do every Friday night," Rebecca Walker said. "You'd go skating."

With son Domenic, 13, out on his own inside the rink, Logan took steps on her own, doing laps back and forth, walking in her skates on the carpeted area by the snack-bar tables.

"I like it," she said.

Later, the disc jockey intoned the next number, a "dance skate," playing KC & the Sunshine Band's "I'm Your Boogie Man." About 20 skaters strutted their stuff, groovin' to the disco-era tune. Then the "all skate" announcement cued the invitation for everyone to motor on back to the floor.

A variety of music played throughout the evening, including Top 40 and country.

When Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" blared, a band of teenage girls breezed by singing along out loud, never mind that the song came out more than 10 years before their birth.

Like the Walker couple, who had skated at Fun Warehouse in its previous incarnation as a rink several years ago, two Myrtle Beach natives - Kristen McUlloch and Taylor Bautugan - wanted to see the reborn rink they used in their school days.

They were home on a break from their studies at the University of South Carolina and Spartanburg Methodist College.

Having returned her rental skates, McUlloch said she felt reassured to "know I don't fall down."

Bautugan called the experience just plain fun, and said they want to come back with their other friends in the area.

"We're checking it out for everyone," McUlloch said.

Tim Marks is the owner/operator of Fun Warehouse, a family business that ran the Paradise rink on site in the late 1990s. With the closure of the camper dealer that occupied the building, the Marks family reaquired the property and spent this year retrofitting the arena to its original use, with an all-new, raised wood floor, and adding a 10,000-square-foot wing for laser tag in a two-level enclosure, as well as an arcade and inflatable playground.

'What we love'

"It's what we do," Marks said. "It's what we love."

His father, Richard, said with three miniature golf courses on the Grand Strand, the rink and entertainment center extends their reach for family recreation.

In the skate-rental department, he showed rows of sizes ranging from child's 9 past men's 12. Every rental boot has four wheels, but patrons can bring their own in-line skates, too.

Tim Marks said having sessions at various times of the day appeals to different segments of the population. Stop by on a weekday afternoon, and you might see mothers skating while pushing strollers, for example.

He and his father stressed the need to cater to all age brackets, from folks skating for nostalgia to schoolchildren meeting friends to hang out, with every activity priced a la carte. With time, they also have plans to offer more activities, possibly lessons and speed skating competitions.

Tim Marks joked about gutting the building this past summer for the reconstruction.

"We wish we could have skates while working on the building from one side to the other," he said.

'American culture'

Terrelle Anderson, owner of Dream Land, also finds pleasure in the profession in which his family shares.

"I always wanted to have a business where I can have fun and enjoy what I'm doing," he said, calling skating "the best value for the dollar."

Anderson rolled out many positive aspects about the sport.

"Roller skating has been around since the automobile has been around," he said. "It's just part of American culture."

Besides its happy atmosphere, camaraderie and cardiovascular exercise using more than 200 muscles in the body without being so hard on the joints, skating grooms other skills in youth, Anderson said.

"It teaches them maneuverability," he said. "It teaches them coordination and balance. It gives them awareness of their surroundings."

Anderson said basing Dream Land in the center, the heart, of Horry County, affords a wide-open market.

"We pull from Aynor, Conway, Loris and Green Sea," he said, noting that having S.C. 22 nearby increases access. "And we get people from S.C. 90, 905 and Little River."

Anderson said he also has visited Fun Warehouse, and he hopes that with the area boasting two rinks, "more people would be aware of a roller-skating presence."

He thinks both sites are far enough apart that "both of us win."

Anderson said although smaller in scope than Fun Warehouse, Dream Land welcomes the public to enroll in basic skating lessons led by Carla Ericson, a former Walt Disney World figure ice skater, and check out the Palmetto State Rollergirls roller-derby league, whose roster includes teachers at area schools and faculty members of Coastal Carolina University.

Success in operating a rink, Anderson said, centers on understanding children, such as staying hip to current music to stay new and fresh, and providing a safe, community gathering place.

"You have to think like they do," he said, "and be a big kid."

Contact STEVE PALISIN at 444-1764.

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