I have been attempting to write the story of New Years ice skating in the Meys household, and the can of worms it has opened in my memory, and my general psyche is astounding. I think about it constantly, and I've written a huge blog. I feel this tale has turned into more of a short story, or a book chapter, but after consulting with my editor (Preston) I've decided to bust it up into a few shorter blogs.
The best part about this journey has been talking over these times with family and close friends, to see what they remember. As good as my memory is, I have the gaps that come with age and time, and there's part of the story that I flat out don't know, so I will go to the last standing matriarch of the family, my late Uncle Bill's wife, Aunt Pat, to see what she knows on the subject of ice rinks and our family.
What I already know, is that ice skating was a big deal in our family. My Grandpa (Dad's dad) was the first ice rink attendant for the city of Superior, Wisconsin. He worked many jobs for the city, and was also instrumental in forming a union, but at some point, this happened. Now, in my mind this rink that he managed was the one I grew up skating on, located about five blocks away from our family home. My grandpa built that house in 1957, then my dad later bought it, and my brother currently owns it. It is possible, however, that the rink he worked at was right next to the house, because it turns out that in the late fifties, and/or early sixties, there was a rink right there.
I was reading a post on a neighborhood Facebook group a few years back, and they were talking about the local rink from back in the day. I just assumed it was in the current spot, where it has been since the 1970's, until someone who lived across the street from our family home chimed in with an anecdote about "the guys who lived next to the rink hooked up speakers on the outside of their house and played music for us to skate to". Well, even if I hadn't known that her family owned the house across the street from my family, I would have known who did that! My Uncle Bill was a radio man from the get-go. I don't believe he was ever a DJ, but he physically set up and worked for most of the stations in the area throughout his career. My dad loved music almost as much, and we donated his giant collection of albums to a local radio station when he passed away in 1992. We lost my uncle just this past year, he for sure had all the answers I'm looking for. Isn't that the way of it?
The arrow in this picture shows our family home, and the circle is where the rink would have been located. My folks bought the house in 1968, and Grandpa and Grandma built a smaller one right next door. Maybe that's when the rink moved to its current location? Maybe there were two? Doesn't matter, just one of those things you wonder about. Did Grandpa work that rink as a paid job? Or did the three of them create this rink for the neighborhood? Aunt Pat and I have a lot to talk about at coffee tomorrow!
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