Great Skate Rink Rat Reunion Huge Record Turn Out Success. Friends that skated at the Great Skate and International roller rink in the 70s 80s & 90s. Met on a Sunday evening for a couple of hours to brave lace up the skates to have some fun. Friends who haven’t seen each other in years shared wonderful memories of days gone by.

How The Reunion Got Together

Former manager Bob Costsa ran into WCSX‘s Screamin Scott at a concert last summer with the idea he had brewing and wondered if I would be interested in being the DJ the night of the reunion. Dating back to when I worked there in 1979-80 The first gig ever to DJ.

The roller rink back then was called the International Skating Village Roller Rink and honed my craft as a DJ only having High School radio WPHS behind me got a job. It was some wonderful memories including my first kiss from a little redhead girl.

The Name Change In The 80s

The 80s saw the change from International to The Great Skate. Redone, and redesigned with bright colors. They even moved the DJ booth to the front by the doors. It’s a 30,000 sq foot facility, smooth floor, and a state-of-the-art light show. Many new memories followed all the years till now. So glad we are going to all get together to share some memories. Even if you can’t skate anymore. I hope if you skated here over the years you will join us for a wonderful reunion get-together.

The Reunion Was A Huge Success 

Start to finish the reunion was only 2 hours on a Sunday evening. An Incredible evening wish could have lasted longer. So many friends and co-workers of both roller rinks swapped war stories of days gone by. The music I tried to play was a mix of old-school skating favorites as well as some rocking classics from the past. The event went so well with 592 patrons.  Over 380 paid through the door and another 100 non-skater who either couldn’t skate or their insurance premiums were not covering the night’s fun.

Counted only a few spills and an injury or two. ( Danielle Rooks ) Take care of that leg injury. The Staff and floor guards did a tremendous job watching all of us enjoy a takeover for a couple of hours of the skating floor. A quote from Manager Bob Costa on the The Great Skate Alumni Facebook page, ” See you next year! Update..next year’s reunion will be 3 1/2 hours long! Bob, I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Find out more about The Great Skate by visiting their website for more information on private parties, lessons, Skate times, Click Here

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  The Great Skate Reunion. Such a beautiful roller rink. The rink has been around for as long as I can remember in Roseville. Many of my School parties were held at this rink. The Great Skate does lots of parties. You can even rent the floor all to yourself if you wanted.

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  This is the same roller rink that "screamin scott" started his first dj job at 16 years old when the Great Skate was called International. Scott dj'd there in 1979-80. Got the gig while in High School and worked weekends. Even got a few friends jobs at the roller rink

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  Line to get in that Sunday. over 300 skaters and 100 Non skaters all got together for some laughs, falls and fun. The session lasted only 2 hours. Long enough for some skaters. The parking lot was packed to the brim.
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  Great Skate Manager Bob Costa trading stories of great times at the roller rink. Bob Costa was the one who asked me to DJ. Hope I did not disappoint. Look forward to do it all again if they will have me.

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  The Great Skate snack bar side which included the skate rental and full concrete bathrooms. Some changes made over the years . The Great Skate was well kept and clean making for a great evening. Was amazed at how good everyone could still skate so good!

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  Sean Ninness Getting ready to test out the legs and glide around the skate floor once again. There were a few falls. Over all everyone had a safe,fun time. Look for another Reunion soon!
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  The word of the night was OMG it's you. And to help out, Name tags were provided with those with bad eye site and didn't recognize friends from years ago. Some reunion members traveled all the way from Florida to be here. Some still skate regularly still at the Great Skate.

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  WCSX's Screamin Scott was the music director with a great mix of Rock, Funk R&B and Oldies. Trying to make everyone happy is always a challenge. But some even skated up to the side of the booth to make a request. Music made the night

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  The night was run just like the old days with breaks for couples and backward skaters only. The difference is there was no clouds of smoke like back in the 70s & 80s . Kids would smoke while they were skating or down the side of the floor. The Great Skate Staff was incredible to all of us that night. Happy with the turn out. Only thing missing was old pinball games. Hard to play on skates. But we did.
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  Reunion saw many friends that haven't got together in years. Let alone skate after all the years. But these three showed everyone they still got it! Everyone looked wonderful. Many smiles that night

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  Friends forever and it was roller skating together for many years that made friendships last. One thing that was different. Maybe you can see in the photos. People using cell phones and skating! Really? Yes it was true.

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  The word of the night was OMG it's you. And to help out, Name tags were provided with those with bad eye site and didn't recognize friends from years ago. Some reunion members traveled all the way from Florida to be here. Some still skate regularly still at the Great Skate.
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  It was so fun being the special guest DJ that night. Screamin Scott said," It was a dream come true after almost 45 years to come back and play music. I remember I got fired for playing the band STYX and the song Renegade! The owner said it was to heavy metal and told me get out. LOL

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  Friend Rick Ciesluk meeting up with old Rink Rats and Former Skaters from International/Great Skate. Sure some great stories were going around. Everyone aged really well. Some even had a full head of hair. Some did not but still looked great

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  The night was incredible and was so good to see friends they haven't seen in 20 to 30 years. Thank goodness we all had name tags. Memories are made but also gets hard to remember after so many years.
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  The reunion also showed how us skaters never age. Still so beautiful. Seem like yester day we spent all our weekends together at the Great Skate Roller rink. Such a great idea to bring everyone together

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  Such a beautiful evening at a beautiful roller rink. The colors and light show was incredible. Sound system was good also. Nobody said it was too loud, turn it down or get off my lawn.

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