Mount Gretna Roller Rink – 135 Years of Family Fun
Nothing beats the historic Mount Gretna Roller Rink. For our Guests looking to harken back to an earlier day, to relive halcyon times of their youth, and even to get some excellent aerobic exercise this is the perfect place for you. Enjoy the simple pleasure of skating to music in a building that predates movies, televisions, and video games, and has done so for over a century.
Whether you are looking to elevate your aerobic threshold or just sail around a historic skating rink, or even just to take yourself on a journey to another time, Mount Gretna’s Roller Rink (only eight miles from Annville Inn) is everything you are looking for…at a cost of $4. to $8. per person (depending upon day)…astonishing!
This century, enthusiastic entrepreneurs, Brian and Eunice Heist own and operate the Mount Gretna Roller Rink. 135 years ago, the structure was built by hand, utilizing 10”x10” wooden beams creating one of the strongest roof systems possible at the time (and even today): Bridge Truss construction. Hand sawed. Each joint perfectly aligned. The solid wood roof can accept the heaviest snow loads mother nature can deposit. (Brian took Annville Inn’s Craig George up into the attic for a fun Sunday afternoon exploration. He found it “over the top amazing” from a structural and carpentry point of view.)
Built to last, Loved Through the Generations
The structure is the oldest in Mt. Gretna and was originally built in 1890 to house what became the world-famous Pennsylvania Farm Show (known at the time as the “Farmer’s Encampment”). In 1916 the show moved to Harrisburg and the building became a dance studio and theatre, morphing into skating as well and then becoming a full-time skating rink by May, 1926.
You will be skating in the USA’s third oldest skating rink. History oozes from every part of the building, although its owners, Brian and Eunice Heist, workday and night to keep the facility clean, well preserved, and safe. The floor surprises visitors…perfect carpentry from a bygone era offers an absolutely flat hardwood skating floor easily twice the size of a full basketball court. The Heists close one week every year to completely sand and re-finish the floor, keeping it in pristine condition for their customers. Skaters come from several states to enjoy skating in a worldclass, well-preserved skating rink.
“We care about our Guests and always have a “Floor Guard” positioned out on the floor,” Brian Heist stated. The Floor Guards are very experienced skaters (Brian, owner and Floor Guard, has been skating since he was eight years old). All Guards wear black and white striped umpire shirts.
The guards also run a variety of old-fashioned games, including relays with wheeled tricycles, washtubs, and rocking horses. Expect the traditional ‘limbo’, where skaters test their ability to see how low they can go! Brian has also created customized skates, including a pair made from western “cowboy” boots.
Steeped in History
The Heists bought the business in 2018. “The first thing we did,” they state, “is replace all the rental skates.” Additionally, they purchased inline skates, something new for the 135-year-old business. They purchased nearly $50,000 in new rolling stock for their Guests’ skating pleasure.
Updates, displays, air movement systems, skating floor maintenance and other care taken to keep the facility in top notch shape indicate how Rick and Eunice “put everything back” into the business. At a time when many business owners pull resources from a business, the Heists reinvest constantly in order to preserve the building and its location as well as to give skaters an exemplary experience.
Skate at Brian and Eunice’s Mount Gretna Roller Rink, and you will be flying around the same wooden floor that a professional roller hockey team, “The Mt. Gretna Tigers” played upon. This was their “home rink” from 1932 to the mid-1940’s, according to Brian Heist. Photos from this era line the walls of the Rink’s concourse as well as showcases.
One can only speculate the history of a recent find: a wooden hockey puck lodged up in the rink’s rafters!
Live Music and Fun
Where else can one go to enjoy live organ music performed on a 1960’s era Hammond B organ? Originally created as an alternative to church pipe organs, jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Bill Doggett, Milt Buckner, and Wild Bill Davis quickly adopted the instrument. These musicians pioneered its use in jazz, paving the way for its further use in blues, rock, soul, and other genres and still widely utilized.
Today, the Hammond B at the Rink is played by well-known organists. A display on one of the Rink’s massive walls features “license plates” naming all the organists throughout Mount Gretna Roller Rink’s history. Those with an autograph on them are still alive, and some perform regularly.
Current organist Ben Schaffer has said, “I started skating here when I was nine.” He became the rink organist after Kathy Long Collins retired. Collins had succeeded her father Ray Long, who started playing in the early 1960s, when the organ provided all music. His life and the roller rink are intertwined– Schaffer has also been a floor guard for nearly two decades.
Generations of Memories
“We always brought our kids here to skate — we’d come on the weekends,” said Eunice Heist. “We had our son’s birthday party here when he turned 11 — over 22 years ago.” Skating goes back even further for Eunice and Brian. Eunice’s father started her off skating when she was four or five, and Brian began as an 8-year-old. The couple’s first date was also a “skating rink date”. One can only speculate as to the number of first dates that have happened at the Rink. Today countless families no doubt trace their genesis back to Mt. Gretna Roller Rink.
They also have involved their families in the business. A grandson works as a floor guard from time to time, and a granddaughter is often in the concession stand, Brian said. “My favorite thing is seeing kids from years ago who come back with their own children,” Brian added, pointing out the multi-generational aspect of the Rink.
Skating to a live “pipe organ” sound or to the latest tunes spun by co-owner DJ Eunice Heist is exhilarating as well as the realization you are skating on the country’s oldest skating rink in a fascinating timber-built structure.
In your mind, imagine skaters 135 years ago and the different clothes they might have worn gliding and spinning on the very same floor. Imagine the fierce hockey games played out by professional players. Imagine almost 1.5 centuries of first dates…some leading to marriage and families. Know you are amidst history dating back to the 1890’s and you are experiencing recreational, athletic and historic nirvana!
Visitor Details for Mount Gretna Roller Rink
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are “public skate times” open to anyone. Admission price varies from $4 to $8 depending upon the day and the time. Skate rental is extra.
451 State Route 117, Lebanon, PA 17042
717-964-3631
www.mtgretnarollerrink.com
Enjoy your stay here at Hershey’s Five Star Annville Inn, famous for
- Rosalie’s breakfasts and hospitality
- Our quiet country elegance
- Amazing views…
And more amenities than most inns:
- Full sized in-ground swimming pool
- Six-person hot tub
- 20-seat movie theatre with Dolby 7.1 Surround just like at the “movies”
- Plant conservatory glassed in on all sides with a wood burning fireplace for winter
- Three acres of botanical gardens with over 600 roses and 10,000 bulbs.
- Large game room with pool table
- Three dining areas for breakfast,
- Jacuzzis in Guest Rooms,
- Most rooms with private entrances and decks
- Fireplaces in all rooms
- King and queen beds throughout
- …and much more to enjoy at Annville Inn!
