Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. the outside. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. the outside. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. The walk-in from outside to the inside. The Foyer with a bench and ticket booth. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. The entrance and exit doors. Easy to guess which one is the entrance. Can you? Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. Neat and clean skate rental counter and snack bar. Really impressive. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. This is the skate rental on the right as seating on the left while in the background, the arcade. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. Spacious snack bar. And very clean. I can see how clean it is. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. Rink with much whiteness. I love that semi-circles on the wall. You hardly see those out there with this shape. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. Rink with much whiteness. I love that semi-circles on the wall. You hardly see those out there with this shape. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. Rink with seating and lockers on the right. I love the colors, really. Red, White, and some Blue. Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI. the outside. Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink. Patriotic! Source: Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
Gay 90's 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI
8-Wheels 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI (Currently Operating)
8-Wheels 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI
Flying Wheels Roller Rink 15111 Hobby Road, Tomah, WI (Currently Operating)
This cute named rink was in business for a while before it was sold to the present owners of Flying Wheels Roller Rinks. The names can be confusing because it was very close similar names-Happy and Flying then the rest are the same: Wheels Roller Rink. The rink is in Tomah, Wisconsin on 15111 Hobby Road. It is a nice quiet area.
Starting in 1965, the rink was built by Charlie Dixon who owned and operated the rink as Gay 90's. Later, at some point, the name was changed to 8-Wheels. UPDATE! (30 June 2022). The name changed was because Charles' daughter,Dianne Dixon-Rusch bought the rink and named it 8-Wheels.
Twenty years later, in 1985, Dennis and Carol White purchased it, changing the name to White's Happy Wheels. That name of the rink was apparently named after the owners' last name. The Whites owned Happy Wheels for 21 out of 40 plus years at the time. What was amazing that Dennis White along with his wife Jan operated the rink while at the same time ran their own farm and raising 5 children!
The Ackerleys purchased it from Dennis and Carol in 2006, and opened (and still operating) Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
The building is a steel sheet warehouse style sitting in the countryside where the Google map cam showed me it was almost no one living there. Just on the other side of this small back road you have to drive on to get to the rink,.. well, there is a pretty big pond-like lake there.
Currently as Tan color however, I am not sure of any color prior at the time before 2006 and before 1985.
This rink, Flying Wheels is doing quite well and still operational. I strongly encourage you, skaters, to check this great local rink! Keep supporting them. I am told they are doing quite well. So, check them out at Flying Wheels.
UPDATE! -- 30 June 2022.
I received an email from someone who is related with this rink. Here is what he has to say. Thank you Mike!
My grandfather (Charles H Dixon Jr.) built the rink. [W]hen he retired and moved to TX in the late 70's, my aunt (Dianne Dixon-Rusch) took over the rink operations and renamed it 8 Wheels. [A]fter a falling out between my grandfather and aunt, he sold it to the White family.
That helps! Thank you Mike! I will contact you because you asked me to call. I am Deaf so I will email!
This is the second email from Mike. Here is more information--
In the early 80s my aunt Diane modernized the rink with suspended ceiling, lighting improvements. The floor has always been some kind of coated concrete. My grandfather called the rink the gay 90s as it was built adjacent to I-90 interstate highway. Late 70s my aunt changed the name to 8 wheels due to the change in meaning of "gay".
I would give you contact number for my aunt but given your [deafness] that wouldn't work. I don't have any other method of contacting her other than a phone number. I haven't seen her for many years as she lives in Arizona and I live 70 miles from the rink.
It is ok, no worries about it. Pretty much have information. Unless she wants to contact me, she can. My email is always on every page of Dead-Rinks (and other Dead- whatever I will have in the near future).
I totally understand why the name has to change. "Gay" back then had a meaning for Happiness, joyful, jolly. With pride for some. But today "Gay" means a sexual orientation preference.
This is for fans of this site.. according to Google directory, Gay has two meaning as I copied and pasted from Google directly. The bold is what Gay meaning back then. Still is though.
adjective
1.
(of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man).
"the city's gay and lesbian people"
2.
DATED
lighthearted and carefree.
"Nan had a gay disposition and a very pretty face"
As you can see terminology has changed throughout decades and centuries.
There you have it.
The Interior.
Currently it showed a lot of whiteness such as the rink floor, walls, and ceiling. There are some splash of Red such as the rails, lockers, on the wall, etc. They also have some Blue in it which are the seating. It would be interesting to see how it appeared before 2006. Even further back to 1965.
The Exterior.
The building is a steel sheet warehouse style sitting in the countryside where the Google map cam showed me it was almost no one living there. Just on the other side of this small back road you have to drive on to get to the rink,.. well, there is a pretty big pond-like lake there.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: White coated polyurethane type Concrete. Floor Layout: Standard.
Building Size: 12,000 SF. Built: 1965. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: 9.5100 AC.
Organ: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- N/A.
Gay 90's: 1965 to pre-1985.
8-Wheels: Pre-1985 to 1985.
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink: 1985 to 2006.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink: 2006 to presently operating.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Gay 90's: Retirement and sold to relative.
8-Wheels: Falling out, sold to the White Family.
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink: N/A.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink: Still operational.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Local Gyms and Fitness
Google Map
Tomah Journal - 27 July 2006.
La Crosse Tribune - 29 October 2006.
Reedsburg Times-Press Obituary for Dennis White
Flying Wheels - Website
Date of issue: 19 July 2019.
Updated: 07 June 2021.
Updated: 30 June 2022 and 01 July 2022.
For office use only: 10 ps.
Worth to visit:
YES! Go skating there now! It is Flying Wheels Roller Rink!
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.
Starting in 1965, the rink was built by Charlie Dixon who owned and operated the rink as Gay 90's. Later, at some point, the name was changed to 8-Wheels. UPDATE! (30 June 2022). The name changed was because Charles' daughter,Dianne Dixon-Rusch bought the rink and named it 8-Wheels.
Twenty years later, in 1985, Dennis and Carol White purchased it, changing the name to White's Happy Wheels. That name of the rink was apparently named after the owners' last name. The Whites owned Happy Wheels for 21 out of 40 plus years at the time. What was amazing that Dennis White along with his wife Jan operated the rink while at the same time ran their own farm and raising 5 children!
The Ackerleys purchased it from Dennis and Carol in 2006, and opened (and still operating) Flying Wheels Roller Rink.
The building is a steel sheet warehouse style sitting in the countryside where the Google map cam showed me it was almost no one living there. Just on the other side of this small back road you have to drive on to get to the rink,.. well, there is a pretty big pond-like lake there.
Currently as Tan color however, I am not sure of any color prior at the time before 2006 and before 1985.
This rink, Flying Wheels is doing quite well and still operational. I strongly encourage you, skaters, to check this great local rink! Keep supporting them. I am told they are doing quite well. So, check them out at Flying Wheels.
UPDATE! -- 30 June 2022.
I received an email from someone who is related with this rink. Here is what he has to say. Thank you Mike!
My grandfather (Charles H Dixon Jr.) built the rink. [W]hen he retired and moved to TX in the late 70's, my aunt (Dianne Dixon-Rusch) took over the rink operations and renamed it 8 Wheels. [A]fter a falling out between my grandfather and aunt, he sold it to the White family.
That helps! Thank you Mike! I will contact you because you asked me to call. I am Deaf so I will email!
This is the second email from Mike. Here is more information--
In the early 80s my aunt Diane modernized the rink with suspended ceiling, lighting improvements. The floor has always been some kind of coated concrete. My grandfather called the rink the gay 90s as it was built adjacent to I-90 interstate highway. Late 70s my aunt changed the name to 8 wheels due to the change in meaning of "gay".
I would give you contact number for my aunt but given your [deafness] that wouldn't work. I don't have any other method of contacting her other than a phone number. I haven't seen her for many years as she lives in Arizona and I live 70 miles from the rink.
It is ok, no worries about it. Pretty much have information. Unless she wants to contact me, she can. My email is always on every page of Dead-Rinks (and other Dead- whatever I will have in the near future).
I totally understand why the name has to change. "Gay" back then had a meaning for Happiness, joyful, jolly. With pride for some. But today "Gay" means a sexual orientation preference.
This is for fans of this site.. according to Google directory, Gay has two meaning as I copied and pasted from Google directly. The bold is what Gay meaning back then. Still is though.
adjective
1.
(of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man).
"the city's gay and lesbian people"
2.
DATED
lighthearted and carefree.
"Nan had a gay disposition and a very pretty face"
As you can see terminology has changed throughout decades and centuries.
There you have it.
The Interior.
Currently it showed a lot of whiteness such as the rink floor, walls, and ceiling. There are some splash of Red such as the rails, lockers, on the wall, etc. They also have some Blue in it which are the seating. It would be interesting to see how it appeared before 2006. Even further back to 1965.
The Exterior.
The building is a steel sheet warehouse style sitting in the countryside where the Google map cam showed me it was almost no one living there. Just on the other side of this small back road you have to drive on to get to the rink,.. well, there is a pretty big pond-like lake there.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: White coated polyurethane type Concrete. Floor Layout: Standard.
Building Size: 12,000 SF. Built: 1965. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: 9.5100 AC.
Organ: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- N/A.
Gay 90's: 1965 to pre-1985.
8-Wheels: Pre-1985 to 1985.
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink: 1985 to 2006.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink: 2006 to presently operating.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Gay 90's: Retirement and sold to relative.
8-Wheels: Falling out, sold to the White Family.
White's Happy Wheels Roller Rink: N/A.
Flying Wheels Roller Rink: Still operational.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Local Gyms and Fitness
Google Map
Tomah Journal - 27 July 2006.
La Crosse Tribune - 29 October 2006.
Reedsburg Times-Press Obituary for Dennis White
Flying Wheels - Website
Date of issue: 19 July 2019.
Updated: 07 June 2021.
Updated: 30 June 2022 and 01 July 2022.
For office use only: 10 ps.
Worth to visit:
YES! Go skating there now! It is Flying Wheels Roller Rink!
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.