Skaters flash back during ‘Old Skool’ night
Every week, USU students skate their way into the past at Old Skool Skate Night hosted by the Cache Valley Fun Park every Tuesday at 8 p.m.
People dress in costumes from every era, to dance and skate to the music of their parents’ college years.
“I feel like a lot of people go roller skating for birthday parties when they’re little, but it fades out when they hit middle school and high school,” said Emily Esplin, a sophomore studying family and consumer science.
She said that this skate night, which is directed toward college students, is a great way to “get back into doing the things we did when we were young.”
Jessica Larson, a Fun Park employee, said it’s a fun way to relax after the school week.
“It’s something different than what normally goes on around campus,” she said. She said it’s fun to see what people dress like, because it creates a fun environment.
Talysha Tingey, the deejay and creator of Old Skool Skate Night, said she has worked at skating rinks ever since she was 16 years old. She said it’s great to bring skating back to college students nowadays.
“(Skating) has been around for a long time,” Tingey said. “It was very big in the disco era, but then it sort of died out.
Because of her love for skating, Tingey said she wanted to see it brought back.
“When I got here they had a disco night going, but it wasn’t taking off,” she said. She said she strongly advocated for improving the existing disco night, by dedicating herself to Old Skool Skate Night and giving it her best.
Esplin said Skate Night is not only good exercise but a great indoor activity to do during the winter.
She said it’s much more fun than the typical group winter activity — watching a movie — because it gets people out of their apartments to move around, instead of just sitting on their couch.
“If people just stumble in and don’t know it’s Old Skool Night, I start to watch them and notice whether or not they get drawn into it, and most of the time they do,” Tingey said,
Larson said skate night attracts all kinds of people. She said, it gives people a chance to goof off, which is one of the reasons it is so popular.
“Once people try on skates or blades and they start getting into the music, they just let themselves go,” Tingey said.
Esplin said her favorite part of skate night is trying new tricks. She said, “I fall a lot, but it’s character building.”
“It’s just a crowd that really loves to have fun,” Tingey said.
Esplin, Tingey and Larson all agreed, the most popular part of the night is “black out.”
Black out is the part of the night dedicated to top 40 music. Tingey said she has noticed a major rush toward the end of the night because of this.
“It has popular songs that people are used to hearing and dancing to,” she said.
She said sometimes there is a sort of discomfort with disco and other older music, because participants are unfamiliar.
“Sometimes people will say ‘Oh, I’ve heard that song before,’ but they still don’t know the words, and they don’t know how to dance to it,” Tingey said.
Tingey said the unfamiliarity is not a bad thing, overall, because the music is what makes this skate night unique.
“It’s what makes it fun, because you’re experiencing something knew,” she said.
Esplin said everyone should give it a chance, because the first time she was invited, she was skeptical, but eventually thought it was fun.
Esplin said she has been back almost every Tuesday, unless she has a test the next day.
“Once you go, most people really like it,” she said,
– karlee.ulrich@aggiemail.usu.edu