PILLOW — Don and Roberta Molaro, owners of The Skatery, in Pillow, have shared a lifelong passion for roller skating; after all, its how they first met, nearly 50 years ago on Long Island, New York — where else, but at a skating rink.
Their dream ever since was to operate their own roller skating rink and that’s exactly what they were able to do after moving to Central Pennsylvania in 1974 and buying the former Double R Skate Ranch in 1988.
Tonight, from 7 to 10 p.m., the Molaros are inviting skaters to experience the golden age of roller skating, when they celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the facility they renamed The Skatery.
“In the golden days, we’d only skate to organ music,” recalled Roberta Molaro. “And that’s what we’ll be doing on Sunday, when Martin Dumic, an accomplished organist from Mechanicsburg, will be playing live.”
Molaro said that skaters of all ages from throughout the region, have notified them of their intention to be at the Anniversary Party. “We’ll have people coming from as far away as Halifax, Lykens and State College,” she said. “We’ll also have young kids and seniors. A 89-year-old skater plans to be here.”
The cost is $6 per person for the session.
From 6 to 7 p.m. there will be a covered dish supper available.
“When we bought the ‘Double R,’” said Molaro, “we decided to change its personality. It had a distinctly western motif and it had a concrete skating area.”
The Molaros sunk more than $100,000 into an initial renovation. “We even bought a wooden maple wood skating floor and had it shipped here,” she said. The floor remodeling also added about 400 square feet to the original rink size.
In 2002, another major remodeling project added about 1,000 feet to the facility, allowing the Molaros to build a birthday party room.
Most recently, a new heating/air conditioning system was completed and the rest rooms were updated with modern vanities.
Part of the fun of those 20 years has been “teaching people how to skate,” Molaro said, reflecting on the past two decades. “I particularly love working with kids. I always have. It’s one of the joys of my life.”
The Skatery is the only rink in the area that offers a roller skating teaching program.
The rink is located on Route 225, about two miles north of Pillow.
To help celebrate its 20th Anniversary, The Skatery has initiated a series of drawings, with prizes that include 20 discount passes, which the winner may share with friends, a card that gives the winner a free admission each month of the year and skating class scholarship certificates.
Entry forms are available at The Skatery for the asking.
For more information, call the Skatery at 570-SK8-1775.
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