by Steven P. Velasquez
Ever feel like your life has been
set to music; somehow choreographed? Ever feel like there should be a camera
crew filming you in your own reality TV show? A few nights ago would have been a
great night for my film crew and I.
A
Place For Us Is Born
When I was a kid, a roller rink
opened up near my home in Rutherford, NJ. Its name was the "Wallington
Skating Center" and she first opened her doors on Labor Day 1982.
A buddy of mine (Anthony DiMeo) invited me there for an afternoon skate one day
and curiously, I went. I had no idea what a "roller ring" or
"roller rink" was. Once through her doors though, I discovered an
enchanted wonderland of music and movement. Arcade games, a light show that
reflected colored lights to the beat of the music - and girls - lots and lots
of girls. What more could a pubescent Latino ask for in life than this?
Life
Has Rhythm
Immediately, this thirteen year-old
fell in love with the place but I'll need to compress time in order to respect
yours. Suffice to say I didn't get spit out of there until my early 20's, a
changed person for life. In those four walls, I encountered many firsts, some
that I can repeat proudly, others not, but firsts all the same. Lifelong
friendships were discovered, lyrics of the songs of a decade were seared into
all of our collective minds. I discovered facts about life that today help me
in the world of emergency medicine, facts like life has rhythm, pulsations and
beats. If you don't understand me, try living without the beat of your heart.
The beat of the music in that building was its life force.
Memories
Are Made
That rink served as the social Mecca
of South Bergen County and surrounding areas for over a decade. The building
had a capacity of 800 people and we'd often have the Fire Marshall's there as
our crowds could exceed 1,000 with hundreds more in line out the door, along
the building and down the large parking lot beside the railroad tracks. Her
walls pulsated with music and would energize me as I approached night after
night through my teen years. There was a palpable movement and flow through
there, wrapped in spandex, highlighted in neon, frozen in hair-spray and always
punctuated in lyrics - music. One couldn't, or at least I couldn't imagine the
indelible impressions that were being carved in my young mind, but they did.
End
Of An Era
Over time, like any living creature,
the WSC (Wallington Skating Center) aged and suffered from health
issues. With declining interest and loss of profit, she ground to a halt. There
were a few attempted incarnations afterwords with different business ideas, but
the music (and thus the pulse) had stopped. It stopped until it re-opened
again as the "Inline Skating Club Of America" in 1995
(Reference: http://www.rinktime.com/skating_rinks/nj/inline_skating_club_of_america_skating_rink_arena_wallington_nj.cfm?).
Several of my friends had visited there over the years, posted pictures to
their social media sites and lamented over what they saw as a sad version of a
once great concept.
Roller skates were now referred to
as "quads" and were more suitable for a museum display.
"Skates" now meant in-line skates. I still vividly remember the first
guy to ever come to WSC (from California) with those monstrosities.
"That's the most ridiculous thing ever!" "That will never
catch!" we laughed. He looked so awkward and gawky when juxtaposed against
our teams of talented dancers, shufflers and speed-demons (I guess we were
wrong). Anyway, that business (Inline Skating Club of America)
also ceased to exist and once again, her music had stopped. For years she lay
abandoned and I feared would be fodder for a bull dozer one day. I'd drive by
occasionally and tell my children of the once great Mecca, the music-filled
home of a generation.
New
Beginnings
Anyhow, a recent investor has once
again rebuilt our beloved roller rink, right in the same building, the same
mold and form of where she once lived and shaped a generation. Her walls are
music and light-filled once again and she has been resuscitated - breathing and
beating - again! Her new name is Fun Force and can be found at http://www.funforcenj.com/.
They have a laser-tag area, private parties, children's parties with huge
bounce houses that get deflated when they open the floor all the way for skating.
They have arcade games from our generation too! I played Ms. Pac-Man with my
eight year-old! You've gotta go!
A
Life Set To Music
So how did I find out? A brother of
mine from my motorcycle club (The Fourth Watch MC) invited me to his son's
birthday party on Facebook.
When I saw the address of 551 Main Ave. Wallington, I almost passed out.
Enthusiastically, I replied and committed to being there with my youngest. That
night, I raced up the Turnpike and got off on 46 West. As I traveled along 46, Ozzy
Osbourne's 1991 hit, "Momma I'm Coming Home" played loudly
on my radio. I turned to my lady and said; "how appropriate" as I
felt I was, in fact, coming home.
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| Al Mack made the front page of "The Bergenite" during a special event at WSC. |
We stopped at Shop Rite in Lodi to
get a birthday card for my buddy's son. Still psyched from the perfectly timed
Ozzy song, I entered the store and playing over head was Mariah
Carey and Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Sweet Fantasy" from 1995, a
song that heavily sampled the Tom Tom Club's 1981 "Genius
Of Love."
Now anyone from my era at WSC
probably associates that song with WSC's single most talented skater, Albert
Mack. It didn't matter where in the building Al was, when Genius Of Love came
on, Al was out on the floor. A young man fueled by music, fast as the
wind and seemingly made only of cartilage, Al would gracefully float by
avoiding the pile-ups of fallen skaters, dazzling the wall-flowers and
inspiring all of us to discover the energy source in the music, in those four
walls, under those lights.
I wish the new owners success in
their business. I pray that that building continues to inspire future
generations. And I, like many of you, wish occasionally - that I could go
back.
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| Our old nasty brown rentals now have a sleek black appearance |
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| A long view of the place. What was the office (upstairs) is now a party room |
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| Left window - Skate Rentals Middle window - DJ Booth (our turntables were traded in for a MacBook - amateurs!!) Right window - What used to be the Pro-Shop is now a party room |
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| I'm standing in the opposite corner of where you would enter the building. The couches you see there serve as a barrier to the metal fencing that divides the bounce toys from the skaters. When the kids are done bouncing, the toys are deflated, the couches and railings are removed and the floor is open for skating. |
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| This shot is from the area that used to be the children's party area with the picnic tables. To the left are video games. |
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| Those little geriatric walkers kill me! A sign of the woosification of this generation. We use to fall and break shit! We were tough!! |
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| You probably can't see it, but I can see the ghosts of our generation... still out there. |
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| I hope you enjoyed this! |
