Gainesville's roller rink Skate Country will close for good before the end of the month.
"Milton Robson has bought Skate Country - well, we haven't closed, but he was looking for a place to put his cars," said Susan Means, who owns Skate Country with her husband, Jim. "And you know, Jim is 78 and I'm 76, I still work at Buford, and anyway, we've talked about selling for a long time.
"But you know, we were certainly not on the market. And just in our conversation with someone who works for Milton. I said, 'well you know y'all should take a look at Thompson Bridge,' and I have said that a jillion times not - I mean, we were not looking to sell. It just was one of those things. He wanted what we had, and it was a good thing."
The roller rink has been owned by the Means since 1980. Many Gainesville residents grew up at the rink and have fond memories of the place.
Robert and Joanna Martin met at Skate Country back in the 1980s, fell in love and got married.
"Well, I love to skate and Joanna was working behind the concession stand," said Robert. "And I thought she was the prettiest little thing in the world. But I was just too shy to say anything to her. Except for, "can I have a Coke and a piece of pizza?'"
A friend of Robert's told Joanna that Robert thought she was pretty, and she approached him. Robert said they dated for 33 nights and then chose to elope.
They will be happily married 37 years this Valentine's Day and have two children. The Martins said Skate Country was a special place to them. They continued to visit for the first couple of years after they were married.
"First couple years we did, and life happens. Yeah, life happens, and then we were blessed with a beautiful bouncing boy," said Robert. "And we then we had our little, little girl. And we went skating some with them, and then we started getting older and our knees started cracking and popping so it was time to stop."
Robert also spoke highly of owner, Jim, saying he was both kind but also strong, strong enough to manage teenagers and their shenanigans.
"It's sad to hear that they're closing," said Joanna. "I wish they wouldn't. But I guess they gotta do what they gotta do."
Skate Country in Gainesville will have its last skate on Sunday.
