MY MEMORIES

Charles Glenn Petersen

1946 - Terril Years

Rolling Skating and Girls

I remember as a High School Freshman going on a school outing to the Dreamland Roller Skating rink at the amusement park at Arnolds Park located on the shores of West Lake Okiboji just 15 miles away. I was a really terrible beginner and fell down a lot, but from them on I was hooked.

During the summers after my Sophmore, Junior, and Senior years in high school, I had moved up to the Majestic Skating rink and went as often as possible. Friday and Sunday nights were particularly big nights. The Majestic had live organ music plus several organized dances for couples during the evening. The closing evening event was always The Grand March, a big final production number. I soon had my own precision skates and learned all of the dances and many of the fancy steps. The beginning of the evening was a lot of filling out a dance card for the evening by going around and asking various girls to do one of the dances. Unless one had a steady girlfriend, and I didn't, you tried to line up as many different girls as possible. When I got my own car I started going to Spencer to the roller rink on Sunday evenings during the winter months. Almost every girl I dated during those years I had met at one of the roller rinks..