Golden Skate wheels to get new home

Golden Skate may have closed its doors this month, but the vintage Vancouver roller rink’s rental skates will roll on — 700 miles away in Canada.

Jason Stevens, ice technician at the Invermere District Curling Centre in Invermere, B.C., arranged to buy 150 pairs of old roller skates from John and Janie Wainwright, who sold Golden Skate to the city of Vancouver. The Wainwrights held a liquidation sale this month for everything in the circa-early 1940s building, which the city plans to demolish to expand its Public Works operations facility.

Invermere District Curling Centre, a nonprofit organization, happens to host the largest outdoor curling bonspiel (tournament) in North America. Sadly, but probably for good reason, Golden Skate’s roller skates won’t be used for curling, the Olympic sport where folks slide a fat stone across the ice, using push brooms to furiously scrub a smooth path to its target.

Because the curling group’s building doesn’t get used much in the spring and summer, Stevens, 40, has been trying to come up with ways to raise money to stay in operation.

That’s where the roller skates come in. Stevens is hoping to do regular teen skates on weekends, plus adult events with a beer garden and laser and black light effects.

There’s a catch, though — Golden Skate’s wheels won’t roll to Canada by themselves. Stevens is hoping to find a Clark County volunteer to box up the 150 pairs of roller skates and take them to the post office this week. (The curlers will cover the costs involved.) If you’d like to generate some good curler karma, contact Stevens at invermerecurling@shaw.ca or call 250-342-3315.

To learn more about the club, go to www.curlinginvermere.ca.