Sunday, November 16, 2008

Another fun day at the rink

So Bug was invited to a birthday party today at Oaks park skating rink. What I didn't realize is that on Sundays, they bring in an actual organ player that plays the Wirlitzer organ. It is this giant monstrosity that is attached to the ceiling in the center of the rink. Apparently this is one of the last working Wirlitzers in the US. Also the only functional organ in a skating rink left in the world.

It was a really cool little slice of what it must have been like in it's heyday. The rink was built in 1905 and has been operational since then. Only closing down for a couple months in 1948 due to a flood that damaged the wood floor. It was just a cool little afternoon.


2 comments:

j said...

The video is too short.

Next time bootleg the whole thing.


Or I could, you know, just show up there some Sunday.

Kristin Coppee said...

Ah, to live in more innocent times. I miss my roller skating days too.

We have a pizza place here in AZ that has a large Wurlitzer organ...attached to bells and whistles and lights, etc. all over the walls and ceiling of this pizza joint. It's pretty entertaining stuff. The pizza is horrid, but we hardly notice, we're so busy watching the dancing cat puppets and stuff.

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