Take a look back at 1972. Roberta Flack topped the Billboard charts with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Platform shoes had women - and men - teetering. Capes were cool. Natural, undone hair was all the rage.
And lacing on a pair of sensibly heeled tan skates with Day-Glo orange wheels and zipping around the rink at Skate Country was the epitome of hipness.
Here we are in 2011, nearly 40 years later. No sign of Roberta, but capes are en vogue. Again. Rocking platforms (although only for the ladies this go-round) are quite on trend. The natural look? In. And Skate Country is still one hot ticket.
Even the tan-and-orange skates are around.
What is up with those fashion don'ts anyway? Why so unattractive?
"So no one will want to steal 'em," says Marlene Leer, co-owner of Skate Country, who herself owns a spiffy pair of purple and blue leather skates with airbrushed flames, no less.
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Ahhh, of course. Sound reasoning that has ensured for years that bowling shoes are dutifully returned.
Except for a run in the '90s when inline skates also lined the rental counter shelves, those four wheelers have been a mainstay at Skate Country, itself a mainstay on the Tucson landscape.
You can't miss the low, rambling building, on the eastern end of 22nd Street. The pseudo chalet exterior - with purple-painted, wooden X's - has changed color over the years. Once white, it's now yellow. The cavernous inside is darkened to a point typically reserved for middle-school dances. A disco ball, flanked by globe lanterns glowing different colors, twirls above the rink. The cheery color scheme - bubble-gum pink and retina-searing yellow - is punctuated by a fleet of flat-screen TVs.
Other rinks have come and gone, but Skate Country - once called Skate Country East because there were two - has not only survived, but thrived. It averages more than 2,000 people a week and hosts about 40 birthdays on the weekends. Skate Country is already booking school fundraisers into late 2012.
And this as it turns 40 next year.
Leer, who runs the rink with stepdad Bob Snellstrom, thinks she knows the secret to Skate Country's long-lasting appeal.
"It might be consistency," says Leer, 30, who scraped together change to pay rink admission as a teen. "People grow up and come back."
Adds Snellstrom, "We try not to be any more than who we are. Other skating rinks do laser tag, zumba. We just stick to skating."
When Skate Country opened in 1972, it was part of a larger company that went on to own several rinks across four states. The flashy east-side rink quickly sucked away skaters and employees from Sunset Rollarama on 22nd Street and Swan Road. Snellstrom was one of the defectors.
A recent Sahuaro High School grad, Snellstrom was going to the University of Arizona when he started working part time at the skate counter. When a new rink was opening in New Orleans in 1975, Skate Country management tapped him to oversee things. When the owners started downsizing in 1992, Snellstrom came home to buy Skate Country.
Seems like everyone associated with Skate Country has a long history with the rink.
Leer started working at Skate Country as a teen. That's her at 16 in the mural along the south wall - the smiling girl in the black-and-white striped shirt. If she'd had her way, she would have been married here, too. On skates. (Snellstrom wouldn't go for it.)
"My water broke here," adds Leer, whose son is nearly 11.
In the office, if you're wondering, not on the rink.
A chunk of Skate Country's employees have full-time jobs but choose to work part time at the rink and have for years. In fact, one man first clocked in during the '80s, but when his kids got jobs at the rink, he decided to come back four years ago, wearing his original name tag.
"It's just a fun place to come into - you can have a rough day and come here, and all that goes away," says Troy Wyatt, a manager who's worked part time at Skate Country for 10 years. "It's good exercise, a good stress reliever."
Skate Country's target market is 7- to 14-year-olds, but, Snellstrom says, "We welcome all ages and cater to all ages."
And get all ages.
Little kids own the rink Saturday mornings during "Tiny Tots" skate time. Thursday's adult night, for those 18 and older, has attracted a loyal following.
The rink keeps things lively with different themes like all Michael Jackson tunes or '80s music. Specials are always running, from Monday's Dollar Night - $1 gets you in, plus the snack bar has deals - to Sunday's Family Night, which has a discount admission of $12 for up to six people.
Skating sessions, which last two or three hours, are structured and include different games or group dancing like the Cha Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle.
"We retired the Macarena," Leer says, laughing.
Pro skater Brandon Perea has paid regular visits to Skate Country for three years. He's traveled across the country, showcasing jam skating - a hybrid of break dancing and roller skating - and says the Tucson spot is a favorite.
"I love the floor; the floor is awesome," says Perea, 16, who's based in Los Angeles. "I love the vibe in the rink. Usually, when you go into a rink, there's an awkwardness at first. I get comfortable in the rink right away."
Ask anyone who skates, from Perea to Wyatt to Leer, who keeps her skates in her office in case she gets the chance to sneak onto the floor, and they'll all tell you there's no feeling like it.
Rolling onto the rink lets older customers recapture fond childhood memories and allows kids to discover the joy of flying - on wheels.
"To me, every day is so enjoyable. The biggest thing I enjoy every day is seeing kids smiling, laughing and having fun," says Snellstrom, now 58.
"I really think this place will be here 40 years from now."
Skate Country
7980 E. 22nd St., 298-4409, www.skatecountry.com
Open daily. Admission varies, but is typically $6 a session. You can rent skates for $3 or bring your own.
Events
• Skate Country's Christmas Skate Sale continues until the end of December with special discounts on skate packages and skates.
• Pro skater Brandon Perea will make appearances next Thursday through Dec. 17, skating at the adult session as well as teaching lessons and signing autographs.
Skate Country Lingo
• Wallers: These are the roller-skated ones who inch slowly along the walls, never daring to break contact.
• Carpet skaters: Exactly what you'd think - the skaters who confidently swoosh across the carpet, but not so much on the rink.
• Wobblers: Very unstable, wiggly skaters.
• Floor guards: Don't let the black-and-white striped shirts trick you into calling them refs. The guards are responsible for controlling the flow of the floor, helping any fallen skaters and keeping everyone safe.
Random factoids
• It takes 16 laps around the rink to equal a mile.
• Actress, singer-songwriter and fashion designer Taryn Manning, who's had roles in "Crazy/Beautiful" and "8 Mile," grew up in Tucson and gave a shout-out to the rink in an interview. In the 2005 Entertainment Weekly article, Manning talked about Skate Country East, as it was known when there were two locations. She's quoted as saying, "I was always the cool, young, sassy one. Rolling around on that floor was a major part of my childhood."
