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Remembering Fun Times at The Rink in York County

Newspaper ad for The Rink from July 1984 Daily PressSome of the first birthday parties with friends, held out at a venue, that I remember involved rollerskating at a proper local roller rink. I can recall the first, which was with a group of school friends over at the Plaza Roller Rink in Hampton, in the third grade, perhaps (1980 or so). I loved skating parties because I could go “look cool” out there in the swirly, dark rink with loud music and disco lights in full effect. There was also the arcade corner (the first place I ever played Tempest) which was great fun, and the concession stand with plenty of sodas and greasy junk-food. If I was feeling crazy enough, I’d order a “Suicide,” a drink where they mixed all…the sodas…together! It was madness and it was awesome.

I didn’t get to visit Plaza very often though, as we lived in York County and it was way over on the far side of Hampton. Before long, however, a closer alternative popped up near home that greatly increased the frequency with which I could go skate with my friends: The Rink on George Washington Memorial Highway in Grafton.

Newspaper clipping from March 10, 1983 Daily Press about The Rink opening

From Daily Press, Thursday, March 10, 1983

The Rink Family Skating Center was opened in early 1983 by Dr. Ralph R. Novoa at the site of his former Peninsula Bargain Mall, a 12,000-square-foot warehouse that never really caught on with locals and closed its doors in early 1982. The recreational establishment was managed by Karen and Dave Emerson and Carman Quinn, daughter of owner Novoa.

Picture of skate rental counter at The RinkThe Rink had a rental counter along the right wall and a snack bar and an arcade room in the back. There was a definite feeling that things were done somewhat on the cheap there; the video games were titles I’d never heard of (I’m pretty sure one of the games on hand was Eagle, which I never saw before or since), the purple-painted rink floor could’ve been a lot smoother, and various other little details like that could be noticed. It didn’t matter though — the place was enormous fun and it was close enough to home that I was able to visit quite frequently.

In May of 1985 my family and I moved from the Dandy neighborhood in York County to Kingspointe in Williamsburg, and I’m afraid I never made it back to The Rink after that. I have such great memories of hanging out with friends in that place, and of that time in my life in general, really. I would love to hear about any memories readers might have of their visits to The Rink in the comments section.

Remembering Rice’s Fossil Pit in Hampton, Virginia

My daughter, Rory, is a fifth grade Alexandria public school student with just a few months left before making the big jump to middle-school. Recently she had a field trip with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in order to study, first hand, the plant and animal life of the bay. Thinking about this called up memories of school field trips I took when I was her age. Growing up in the Hampton Roads area, many of my field trips were related to the bay and its wildlife. But the one field trip that stands out as my favorite of them all was to a rather unique treasure of Hampton Roads: Rice’s Fossil Pit.

I had been a student at Hampton Roads Academy only a few months when the trip happened as part of Mrs. Sailor’s sixth-grade science class, as I recall. We were told ahead of time to bring in a digging implement of some sort. I remember going to A&N with my mother and finding a military-style collapsible shovel / pick, which I still have today.

We bussed out there, down Fox Hill Rd. to Harris Creek Rd. ( map ), and as we pulled up to park all I could see was trees. As I approached on foot, however, the pit revealed itself. It was a striking sight — 70 feet deep and a huge distance across with terraces along the edges winding down at different heights. I remember feeling amazed and awed at the site of it.

Jane Rice, daughter in-law of the man who brought this pit to the public (more on that in a moment) recently described the experience of the pit in a manner with which I completely agree.

“To me, it was always like walking back through time into the prehistoric era,” says Rice, who accompanied her mother-in-law into the pit almost every day for an evening stroll.

“When you looked around, it was almost unbelievable. It was like being in a different world.”

We wound our way to the bottom of the pit and began digging. The prospect of finding something ancient was extremely exciting for me. The day was a scorcher but that didn’t slow down our digging.

Kids searching the walls of Rice's pit - 1981
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