Celebration of Life on Saturday, June 1st at First Lutheran in Cushing, WI at 11 am
Roller
Skating by Marlys Hedberg
My earliest memories of The Hall above the
Cushing Coop Store (later Vern's Country Market) building in Cushing goes back
to the year 1947. I lived at Alpha with
my parents, Ernie and Florence Johnson, and my younger sister Virginia. My two older sisters, Mevina and Vilet had
moved away from home and had married.
I learned how to roller-skate and found it
to be SO MUCH FUN ! Louie Marek had purchased a large supply of clamp-on steel wheel
roller-skates. He wanted to provide good
entertainment for area people. One night
a week in the summer, Louie loaded his skates into a small trailer and pulled
it with his car to the Grantsburg Fairgrounds.
The Fairhouse was large with a smooth
hardwood floor which it still has. It
was there that so many young people skated to the soothing music of a
phonograph and records.
For some, it was their very first time on
skates. I was one of those people who
learned to skate in the Fairhouse. Many
a time I skated into the wall! Skaters
always went counter clockwise--probably because most people were
right-footed. To turn, you crossed your
right foot over the left.
Louie Marek was my neighbor. He lived east of Alpha and then south a half
mile on County Road M. Louie was married
to Bernice Sazma, daughter of John and Josephine Sazma, who once owned
"The Coach" a diner and store made from an old railroad car in
Cushing (where Stop-a-Sec is now). They
also owned the West Sweden dance hall at one
time too.
Since I lived only and an eighth of a mile
north of the Alpha store, I could walk down to the store on Skate-Night and
catch a ride with Louie. There were
others who rode with him too. I
remember one night I got there too late and missed my ride. What a miserable evening that was! I missed a night of skating!.
Louie also hauled his skating equipment to
the West Sweden Dance Hall
The Grantsburg Fairhouse proved months of
good entertainment, but eventually the weather became too cold to skate in the
unheated building. It was then that
Louie hauled his load of skates down to Cushing every Sunday night. The Hall above the grocery store was the best
place in Cushing to hold roller-skating.
Those who lived in and around Cushing looked forward to going to The
Hall on Sunday nights.
There was a long stairway to The Hall on
the south side of the building opening on the west end. Boxes of skates had to be carried up that
long flight of stairs along with the phonograph and stacks of records. A young man from Grantsburg, LeRoy Hedberg,
drove down from Grantsburg to help Louie unload and setup for skating. All of the skates were the kind that clamped
on to your own shoes. LeRoy's job was to
rent out the skates and help the skaters get their skates adjusted and clamped
onto their shoe. There was a leather
strap that went across the instep and fastened on the other side. A skate key was used to adjust the clamp to
the width of the shoe.
We skated to the good music for about three
hours, I think from 7 to 10 pm . Now that seems to me to be a bit late, with
school the next day for many of us, but no one complained. We must have slept fast! Halfway through the evening was the
intermission. We could buy our candy bar
and pop then, or climb down the stairs and use the outhouse. Sometimes we left our skates on and got
gravel in the bearings on the trip.
LeRoy would remove the nut on the skate wheel and either put on a new
wheel or replace the roller bearings in the old one. He remembers getting about one dollar for his
help each skating night.
With all of that skating, I believe every
speck of dust was pounded out of that wood floor. I know it left a layer of dust on my hair,
but that didn't stop me from going back the next time.
LeRoy was the policer of the group. He wouldn't rent skates to someone who had
imbibed. He enforced the no-smoking
rule. Once a night the skaters were
allowed to "crack the whip, " forming a big chain of skaters and whipping
the end ones around.
Roller-skating in Cushing was a lot of
fun. Many friendships were made between
Cushing skaters and those from other areas.
Some Cushing skaters I remember include Kenneth and Bev Hanson, Vergil
and Bernice Brenizer. Toby Baker was a
good skater!
Some friendships even led to dating and then to marriage. It was that way for me. It was Christmas night, 1947, that LeRoy
first took me home after roller-skating in Cushing. We dated for a year and a half and then we
married on July 2, 19 47
|
Marlys and LeRoy Hedberg
|
Rowe Funeral Home - Luck, Frederic
LeRoy G. Hedberg |
