After 32 years of owning a skating rink, George Schweigert still can't get enough of the youthful activity

Jul 8, 2008, 2:09 PM

By DUSTIN FREUND

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Warrensburg Veterans Home resident George Schweigert, 80, waited 11 years to once again fulfill his dream.

Schweigert has always been a skating enthusiast, and on Tuesday morning, he returned home to a hardwood floor similar to the one where he spent many years of his life's work.

Crossroads Hospice helps provide their patients with their perfect day. (Photo by Dustin Freund)

Crossroads Hospice of Kansas City provides its patients with the Ultimate Gift, Gift of a Day program, in which they help seniors experience their perfect day, and Elliott's Roller Rink in Warrensburg lent its help to return Schweigert to the activity he loves.

Schweigert and his wife, Dorothy, have been involved in skating for much of their lives. They bought the Rainbow Roller Rink in Monmouth, Ill., Oct. 1, 1964, and owned it for 32 years. They even had an apartment above the roller rink. Dorothy said that her husband had always wanted to own a skating rink.

"He has always loved skating," Dorothy said. "He didn't skate until he was 16, after he graduated from high school. He was in the military, worked on the railroad, and then he got the chance to buy the rink. Our rink was the second-oldest in the United States under continuous operation."

George and Dorothy Schweigert owned the Rainbow Roller Rink in Monmouth, Ill. for 32 years. (Photo by Dustin Freund)

It wasn't just the skating that Schweigert enjoyed about the roller rink, said Dorothy. He simply "loved people."

"Back in Illinois, he (Schweigert) had a little blind girl who he got to skate," Dorothy recalled proudly and tearfully. "He carried her on skates for a couple of months, until eventually he got her to skate herself. He would clap his hands and she would skate toward him. It was his greatest joy. He just loved to skate and loved the public."

Skating helps connect people, say the Schweigerts, but it's also simply a fun activity.

After a few spins around the rink, George Schweigert is met by his wife Dorothy. (Photo by Dustin Freund)

"Skating can be done by anybody, any age, and it helps keep you healthy," said Schweigert.

For 32 years, Schweigert went skating whenever he pleased, but he had not been skating since moving to Warrensburg. Through the smiles and laughs Tuesday, it was obvious to everyone that Schweigert genuinely loves skating.

In regards to owning his own skating rink, and returning to a roller rink after 11 years, Schweigert said "That was a dream of mine, and this is a dream of mine."

Skating was a dream of George Schweigert in his teens, and still is to this day. (Photo by Dustin Freund)