ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010078
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DONNA GARRETT SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: NOTE: Also ran in February 4, 1996 Current.
CHRIS Conner is out on the floor with his quads on, catching, picking up and encouraging eager tykes during an afternoon Kinderskate.
He plays the music and creates games - some ideas copied from magazines - tykes and other willwas they whirl around the rink.
This is a fun part of his job, and the easiest.
At 25, Conner manages his mother's skating rink.
The job, Conner said, involves much more than just sitting behind the ticket window, collecting money and saying, "Have a nice day!''
Scheduling the 15 part-time employees needed to "keep things rolling" is probably the hardest part of the job, he said.
He then goes across town from the Skate Center of Roanoke Valley on Brandon Avenue Southwest to buy food and supplies for the snack shop, which his 85-year-old grandmother, Hazel Webb, runs.
Heading in another direction for skating supplies takes him to the business of another relative. "My mother's uncle, Edlow Ramsey, started the old Skate-A-Drome Skating Rink across from Lakeside Amusement Park. He ran it until 1972 when it unfortunately burned. He had a skate supply house connected to it which didn't burn, though. Uncle Ramsey distributes all over the country," he said.
When the center is open, whether for private parties or public skating, Conner is the disc jockey.
"Yes, some may call us 'glorified baby-sitters,' as few parents come. On Friday and Saturday nights we have security - not because we have any problems, but to ward off any," he said.
At least 100 organizations book the building from time to time, Conner said. "For instance, churches will have lock-ins. They come in on our down time, 12:30 until 5:30 a.m. That helps us both."
Day-care centers bring their children during the week, and about a dozen birthday parties are held over the weekends.
After a night of skating, Conner might end up repairing some of the 800 pairs of skates. "Our skates are checked as they are turned back in by the weary skaters for wobbly wheels and possible repair needs."
General housekeeping also is part of his job. "Once a year, the floor is varnished. We do it ourselves," Conner said.
He also deals with skate-related clubs and organizations. "I do everything, except mess with electricity." Marketing, however, is most fun, said Conner, a Virginia Tech graduate who majored in communications. He uses a computer to make fliers, advertisements and wall signs to promote the business.
His years at Tech were the only ones he has spent away from the rink that his parents bought in the early 1980s to train for competitive skating.
He and his mom, Karen, admit skating is in their blood and wish more families would skate together.
"I love skating," said Karen Conner, who met her late husband, Jerry, at a rink. Of their three children, only Conner, who started skating at the age of 4, is still heavily involved with the rink.
After her husband's death in 1986, Karen Conner, who "can skate by myself forever," almost closed and sold the center. "But I'm glad I didn't,'' she said, adding Conner started working with her.
"I own the building ... but Chris runs the rink,'' she said. And, says her son, he doesn't think he'll get another job.
Neighbors Up Close features folks who contribute to daily life in the Roanoke Valley. To nominate your neighbor write: Neighbors Up Close, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. 1. Chris Conner and hisby CNBmother, Karen (left), are the forces behind the Skate Center of
Roanoke Valley on Brandon Avenue Southwest. "I own the building ...
but Chris runs the rink,'' she said. 2. As manager, Chris also has
to keep tabs on the rink's video games (below). color.