GOOD TIMES, MEMORIES AT THE ROLL-O-FUN

Skaters circled the rink in 1983 at the retirement party of Roll-O-Fun owners Woody and Jean Seabaugh.

JACKSON -- In the period of time before malls and multiplex cinemas, the social life of Jackson youngsters and teen-agers orbited a fixed point along Highway 34 called the Roll-O-Fun.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the roller skating rink was Jackson's version of Cape Girardeau's Teen Town, a place where boys and girls and teen-agers met, skated, flirted and, on weekend nights, danced to music by local rock 'n' roll bands.

"There were lots of romances that developed and are now households," says Jean Seabaugh, pleased to have provided the setting.

Seabaugh and her late husband Woody owned the Roll-O-Fun from 1954 until they sold the business to Cliff Wilson in 1983. Wilson still operates the skating rink under the name Jackson Skating Center.

The rink was built about 1952 by Elmer Seabaugh and Rock Wilferth, who called it the Jackson Skate Rink. When they put the rink up for sale in 1954, the Seabaughs bought it, even though they had busy careers and two children of their own. Jean was a probate clerk for 35 years. Woody was the circuit clerk for three terms, and worked for the employment security office as well.

They were afraid the skating rink might be turned into something else.

"We saw it was going to be sold and said, Jackson needs it," she recalls.

Their children, James Mike and Michelle, helped out.

In 1960, the Seabaughs built an addition to the building that provided for a lunch counter and recreation room. They renamed the rink the Roll-O-Fun.

It now had a miniature bowling alley with six lanes, and a jukebox.

Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and Friday and Saturday nights were the prime times for public skating. But other nights were open for private parties. Sometimes, schools brought their students over during school hours to reward them.

On Thursday nights, a group of teen-agers who called themselves the Merry Rollers practically took over the rink.

And it wasn't just Jackson kids. Many came from outlying towns like Patton and Sedgewickville to skate and dance. Even Cape Girardeau teens were known to visit the Roll-O-Fun, especially if a well-liked band was playing.

She smiles when she recalls the many musicians -- Eddie McClary, Bob Camp, Lee Raglan and many others -- who played in their first bands at the Roll-O-Fun.

Her memories of the Roll-O-Fun are all good.

"We had fun with the kids," she said. "We could correct things and they would apologize to us. And they would be there again and again.

"They had fun and we did, too," she said.

Wilson, a Kennett native, bought the rink when skating was at one of its popularity peaks, probably because disco was still in fashion, he reasons.

Wilson bought the rink for the same reason the Seabaughs did. "I like the kids," he says.

His rules can be found on a sign behind the front counter. No vulgarity, running, fighting, gum or horseplay are allowed.

Wilson' son Brian helps out and is in charge of the music on the big sound system that has replaced the old jukebox.

Rock 'n' roll is still the skating staple, with bits of country and rap thrown in.

The rink now is augmented with the latest in video games, including Mortal Kombat IV. But the wooden floor is the same one that's always been there.

Rollerblades are the biggest innovation to hit roller skating in many years. Few people wear the old four-wheeled skates any more, Wilson says. "Some of them don't know how to skate on them."

Woody Seabaugh bought Rollerblades when they first came out in the 1980s but they didn't go over. He also tried to introduce skateboards but people thought they were dangerous, Jean says.

Then as now, many teen-agers devoted themselves to skating only until they acquired their driver's license.

"They get other wheels," Jean said.