ELMWOOD, Neb. — This farming community of 670 comes alive on weekends, when the lights dim, music blares and wheels glide over an old hardwood floor. When kids and adults take a spill, they usually laugh, shake their heads and get back up.

The Elmwood roller skating rink is one of the few small-town rinks left in Nebraska.

"The roller rink has been around our community for so long," said Deb Mumford, who brings her daughter. "I think it's so cool that we have a rink. There is not much to do around here."

About two years ago, the rink's future was on squeaky wheels. Owners Lou and Suzie Allgayer put the property up for sale, deciding to retire.

Two of the rink's regulars, Julie and Vince Anderson of Elmwood, stepped in and bought the business, keeping it alive as a part-time venture. The couple have full-time jobs outside the community and two children, ages 11 and 14.

"Lou and Suzie easily could have sold it and turned it into storage or a mechanics shop, but they really wanted it to stay as a rink," Julie Anderson said. "The skating rink is just a lot of fun. It gives the kids a place to go rather than just running the streets."

The Flying Wheels Fun Center on South Fourth Street opened in 1955 and closed in 1973. After 15 years of dormancy, the Allgayers bought the property, remodeled it and reopened it in 1988.

They say the rink is in good hands under the new management.

"Julie has really done a lot of things to spruce it up," said Lou Allgayer, who is retired from the Cass County Board. "She runs a real tight ship."

Allgayer said the rink is "something so important to the kids and the community who don't have the resources to go to Omaha and Lincoln and places like that."

Roller skating rinks have become scarce in small communities. Elmwood is one of the smallest towns still supporting one in Nebraska or southwest Iowa.

Other rinks can be found in places like Gering, Beatrice and Superior. Shenandoah, Iowa, still has one.

Rinks in Blair, Sidney, Kearney and Hastings, as well as Glenwood and Missouri Valley in Iowa, have all closed in the past 20 years.

"When I was growing up, the roller skating rink in Missouri Valley was just packed," said Jeff Snyder, 55, director of the Missouri Valley Chamber of Commerce. "The crowd started dropping off sometime in the 1980s."

Since acquiring Flying Wheels, the Andersons have painted the walls in bright colors. They plopped a few couches on the edge of the rink, so customers can mingle and relax. They put out scooters and rope to let children drag their friends around the rink.

"I want this place to be fun and safe and happy," Anderson said.

Besides Elmwood and Murdock, Flying Wheels pulls its customers from Weeping Water, Syracuse, Unadilla, Alvo, Ashland, Louisville and Murray.

In the winter, the rink opens Saturday mornings, Saturday nights and Sunday evenings for family skates. The business usually opens twice a month for Friday night youth skate parties. The rink also hosts private parties by appointment.

This month, the rink started a Thursday "adult night" for those 18 and older.

Mumford's daughter, Kabrianna, has missed only one Saturday night skate in the past two years. Last summer, the 8-year-old set up a lemonade stand, raising enough money to buy a skating pass.

"I think Kabrianna likes the games they play while they skate," her mother said. "She just likes to go, and it's good exercise. I have two older girls, 21 and 17, and they went there, too. I like to think that because they went there, they did not get involved in the drinking scene."

Bruce Friedrich, principal at Elmwood-Murdock elementary, has distributed Flying Wheels skating passes at school assemblies to reward positive behavior.

Friedrich said the rink is a good alternative to playing video games and watching television.

"The skating rink gives the kids a place they can hang out, get some good social skills and do some physical activities," he said.

Both the new and former owners agree that managing a roller rink in a small town is a risky business. On many nights, area families from small towns flock to their children's athletic contests.

"Out here, there are a limited number of kids," Lou Allgayer said. "On the weekends, if the kids are playing softball or baseball, they can't skate."

Anderson said she is content to keep the rink open part time.

She is also trying to use the facility as a multiuse community center. This spring, she plans to start offering dance lessons. Some Elmwood residents have approached her about holding craft shows and swap meets inside the facility.

Last year, the rink held remote-control car races on the hardwood floor.

"If we were open more as a roller skating rink, I don't know if more people would come," she said. "We have tried to have high school nights, but we've found that once you're 16 and able to drive, it's not cool anymore to come here, so that doesn't work."

 

Back