ROLLING INTO OCTOBER: RINK WRANGLERS CELEBRATE NATIONAL ROLLER SKATING MONTH

He pushes slowly and suspiciously forward, like an infant attempting his first steps, his arms flailing wildly as he tries unsuccessfully to keep his balance.

When he finally falls on his bottom with a resounding thud -- and he will fall several times before he makes it just once around the rink -- he grins, even laughs, then scoots himself to the side, pulls himself up on the wall and tries one more time. A few more steps and the process of balancing and falling begins all over again.

A few of his buddies, who are obviously more experienced and adroit on roller skates, speed to his rescue, pulling him up and holding him, one on each arm, while they help him around rink.

It is a precarious thing to help out someone who is not used to being on roller skates. If the one being helped loses his balance, he might easily pull the other two down with him.

And then the chain reaction begins. One slips, causing another skater to swerve, sending him crashing into a couple, upending the two who were trying to skate arm-in-arm. Still, they all laugh, they all smile.

It is roller skating, after all, and the first day of October, the month proclaimed annually as "National Roller Skating Month." The month is meant as a celebration of a sport that has become increasingly popular since the days in the mid-18th century when Dutchman Joseph Merlin first strapped wooden spools on his shoes and rolled through a party.

The theme of this year's month-long celebration is "Roller Skating: It's a Party!" And those who are skating as well as those who are falling or have fallen are all there at the rink to have fun no matter what their level of skating skills.

Carrie Kirkpatrick, a 7-year-old second grader from Glen Allen spent most of her evening hanging onto the wall or to the shirttail of her aunt. Even with all those things to hold on to, Kirkpatrick fell down twice before she made it around the floor the first time.

"They need a bar to hold on to around here," she said.

Her aunt Shelia Kirkpatrick, also of Glen Allen, works in sales for KUGT Christian radio station in Jackson. The station teams up with Cape Skate, 620 Commercial, on the first Thursday of every month to sponsor Christian Music Night at the roller rink, a night at the roller rink frequented by many youth groups from area churches.

It isn't the only special event that the skating rink sponsors. Today they will have an NFL Party during their regular Sunday skate times of 2-4 in the afternoon and 7-9 at night.

There will also be two Beanie Baby days, an Octoberfest, a Casino night, a Halloween Party and, of course, a National Roller Skating Month party.

On Monday nights, the rink transforms into a hockey arena for the men's roller hockey league. Pick-up hockey games are also played on Saturday evenings from 10 to midnight.

Tony Katinsky, a 21-year-old junior at Southeast Missouri State University who is in the league, has been playing roller hockey for about seven years.

But it isn't the only night that Katinsky comes to the rink. On average, he skates twice a week. Each evening he spends skating helps build his stamina and endurance for when he plays hockey.

"I can stay out there all night," he said.

Seeing him glide about the floor with speed and grace, part Edwin Moses and part Gene Kelly, it is easy to believe that he has been skating since he was 5 years old. So proficient has he become at more elaborate movements on the floor that he can skate backward as easily as most people walk forward.

"You get used to it," he said. "It took me about six months to learn. You fall down a lot."

Katinsky, like many skaters today, prefers the in-line skates to the traditional four-wheel skates because even though the traditional design is more stable, the in-line skates allow him more movement and faster times around the rink.

Although he is at the rink two or more times a week, he is not alone in his passion for the sport. Some of the regular teenage kids -- "Rink Rats" they are called -- are there to skate every time the rink opens. The rink employees even know them by name.

Carrie Kirkpatrick, who was skating for the very first time in her life, did not seem discouraged by her falls or the time she spent clinging to the wall.

"It's fun," she said.

A rink rat in the making.

HISTORY OF SKATING

1760

Belgian Joseph Merlin invents the first true roller skates by affixing wooden spools to a supporting plate. Merlin skates through a party with his new skates, which he could not steer or brake.1819

M. Peitibled of France patents the first documented in-line skate. The skate consisted of two lines, with four wheels in a row, but it was hard to steer because of poor construction.1823

Briton Robert John Tylers invents the "Volito" skate, a shoe with five wheels fastened to the bottom.1849

The first time roller skates are "successfully" seen in public. Frenchman Louis Legrange uses roller skates to simulate ice skating in the play "Le Prophete." He creates his skates by mounting tiny rollers down the center of ice skates.1863New Yorker James Plimpton invents the modern roller skate by placing two wheels side-by-side in each end of the foot. With the new skate, a skater could do all ice skating movements. Because of Plimpton, the popularity of roller skates grows. Plimpton opens a number of rinks across America and Europe.1884Ball bearings come to the world and to skating. They make the wheels of skates turn faster and without much friction.1901Roller hockey teams play throughout Europe. Organized roller skating sports began developing in the late 19th century as the popularity of roller skating increased.1936The first roller hockey world championship is held in Stuttgart, Germany.1937The first roller skating world speed championships are held in Monza, Italy.1960Chicago Skate Company produces the in-line skate as we know it today.1979Scott and Brennan Olson add a rubber heel brake and polyurethane wheels, which allows for greater freedom of movement and more intricate maneuvers.1984Chris Morris from Bloomington, Minn. becomes the first person ever to jump a car on in-line skates.1986Top ski racers and instructors start to use in-line skates for cross-training. In-line skating begins to have mass appeal.1991The international governing body for roller sports allows in-lines in competition for the first time. World records are slashed by minutes. The International In-line Skating Association (IISA) is founded by the major in-line manufacturers, with the help and support of top athletes and organizers of the sport.1992Roller hockey is played as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Roller hockey, speed skating and artistic skating are included in the Pan American Games.1994The IISA Ultra-Distance National Championships in New York doubles its distance from 50 to 100 kilometers. "In-line Magazine" described the revised event as "double the distance, triple the pain." However, over 100 skaters finish the race.