Keep on rolling/ Skate-n-Slim group has wheeled its way to fitness

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 2, 2002 | by Lou Gonzales

Ask Jean Carlton how old she is and she says "77, like the 'Sunset Strip.'"

Her legs don't look a day over 21.

She's one of those trim women who can get away with wearing short, short, pleated skirts.

So she does. But only at the Bosanova, a roller skating rink in a North Prospect Street industrial area.

And only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when the Skate-n-Slim ladies have the wood floor all to themselves for a couple of hours of skate dancing.

The Skate-n-Slim Ladies Roller Skating Group has been meeting twice a week at the Bosanova Skating Center for 25 years now. They're die-hards, Carlton says.

That describes Fran Olsgard, 77, who wasn't skating on this day, the silver anniversary of the group's first session, but came to join the celebration anyway.

Olsgard, as she put it, had her "wheels cleaned out" by a doctor (surgery on her heart)after a massive heart attack in October.

She survived it - only because she was in such good shape - as are all the ladies, who range in age from 49 to just over 80.

Roller skating burns as many calories and has the same aerobic benefit as jogging, according to skating experts and the American Heart Association.

The USA Roller Skating Association says there are 12.4 million quad-style or traditional roller skaters who understand the exercise value of skating to, well, in this case, the Glenn Miller Band's "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo."

In fact, Olsgard said, rather than the usual physical therapy most heart patients must endure, her doc told her to get herself back to the Bosanova, back to the odd mix of organ music, Doris Day tunes, polkas and Ruth Brown blues.

She'll be skating again in a week or so.

Skate dancing has kept the women - stay-at-home moms in 1977 - from going stir crazy.

"We come in here and stretch our legs a bit, stretch our minds a bit, talk a lot. One thing for sure, we don't need any psychiatrists," said a breathless Debbie Graves, as she glided off the wood floor for a quick break. Graves started the group when she moved here from Denver.

There were 75 ladies then, and the number has dwindled to 15 or so.

They rely on the support of Frankie Mae Bishop, who owned the rink then and charged the ladies $3 each for the two-hour session.

She threw in a free fountain drink.

Bishop, 82, is too ill to run the rink now, though she still opens up for the group.

Six years ago, her son-in-law, Dave Hayden, bought the business.

Part of the deal was that the Skate-n-Slim ladies would always be welcome at the Bosanova - and the fees would stay the same, Bishop said.

"I don't know how long Frankie and Dave can afford to open up just for us," said Irene Beckman, 73, who came from Caon City for the celebration. "At three bucks a head, they're not making any money off this."

That doesn't matter, Bishop said. There are certain things in life that make the world seem right.

Skating at the Bosanova is one of them.

"I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" 1942

I got a gal in Kalamazoo, don't wanna boast,

but I know she's the toast

Of Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo

The years have gone by, my my, how she grew,

I liked her looks, when I carried her books,

In Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo

SKATING U.S.A.

In-line skaters now outnumber traditional or quad-skaters two to one. Of the nation's 50 million skaters:

27 million are in-line skaters

12.4 million are quad-skaters

2.8 million are hockey skaters

7.8 million are skateboarders

The International Roller Figure Skating Academy holds an annual weeklong training session at the Olympic Training Center. This year the session is Sunday through Nov. 10.

Source: USA Roller Sports