Greensboro skater puts new spin on his role at the rink
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Mike Gresh and his granddaughter Mylee Ventura, 13, of Ellsworth take a spin.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Mike Gresh on patrol at Mon View Roller Rink in Greensboro
Photo courtesy of Mike Gresh
Mike Gresh, now 62, of Greensboro, competed in artistic roller skating competitions in Florida in the 1970s, with his then-wife, Tammy Ames.
Courtesy of Mike Gresh
Mike Gresh, now 62, of Greensboro, competed in artistic roller skating competitions in Florida in the 1970s with his then-wife, Tammy Ames.
Courtesy of Mike Gresh
Mike Gresh poses for a photo in the 1970s.
Photo courtesy of Mike Gresh
Mike Gresh is shown roller-skating in the 1970s.
When Mike Gresh takes the floor at the Mon View Roller Rink, anyone can tell that, for him, skating is more than a hobby or something to do on a Friday night.
It’s been a lifelong passion for Gresh, who competed in artistic roller skating competitions for years in the 1970s. He laced up his first pair of quad skates at 7-years-old at the Greensboro rink. Now, decades later, he volunteers his time there, working as a skate guard and guru.
“Dad brought me to the rink to see if I’d like skating,” said Gresh, 62, of Greensboro. “I took off from there.”
It was a time in Greensboro when kids were either fishing by the river, playing baseball at the park or skating at the rink, Gresh said. The rink culture was different back then compared to what you see today.
“The kids could all skate backwards and everybody was out on the floor,” Gresh said. “You only came off to get a drink. Of course, there were no cellphones back then, either.”
Now on Friday nights, middle and high school-age children skate at the rink. But the benches and tables near the concession stand are typically more full than the floor. Also, the second half of the Friday night event is used for dancing, not skating.
Ann Bargerstock of Cumberland Township used to skate with Gresh at the rink in the ’70s.
From fourth grade through high school and into her 20s, she was there every Friday night.
“It was just old-fashioned fun,” she said. “A lot of us worked really hard to get better on skates. I got pretty good.”
Gresh also excelled in skating while growing up and learned by watching other skaters.
“Back then you had all the artistic skating going on,” he said. “They would do some of the jumps and I would follow along.”
The rink was like family back then, Bargerstock said. She even met her late husband, Kenny, at the rink one evening in 1972. He was a floor guard who had just returned from serving in the Navy, and they started skating together.
“The rest is roller rink history, I guess,” she said. “Michael was the best man at our wedding.”
Bargerstock called Gresh’s skating “fluid and beautiful” to watch.
“There were adults there that would encourage the kids to get better and learn to do more – Michael was a spectacular example,” she said. “He was one of the most gifted skaters I’ve ever seen in my life.”
At 17, Gresh joined the Air Force and was stationed in Florida from 1974 to 1977. It didn’t take him long to find a roller rink down there in Fort Walton Beach. He even worked at the rink while in the service.
“That’s when I got into the competitive stuff,” he said. “I like the fact that you’re on wheels. It gives you that feeling of weightlessness.”
He and about a dozen other people wanted to start skating to set patterns and dances in competitions, similar to figure skating but on wheels. Gresh and his ex-wife, then Tammy Ames, were partners. They started a club and kept a diary of their six-hour daily practices and what they accomplished. Then, they’d compete in state tournaments.
He said the most impressive stunt he had is called the “death drop,” an axle rotation into a sit-spin. He didn’t use it in competitions, he said.
“You’re throwing yourself into the air,” he said. “When you learned your jumps, you fell until you got it right.”
Another one he mastered is the “Russian split,” which is like it sounds.
“The hardest part about that jump is getting off the floor,” he said. “You had to get the height in order to do the split. I could put kids on a chair and jump over them.”
Gresh was later transferred to Plattsburgh, N.Y., where he still skated at rinks, but not competitively.
“There were hopes of getting back to competitions,” he said. “Then the kids came along and it never panned out.”
In 1994, Gresh “blew out” his knee while playing recreational basketball. It was a significant injury that has required eight surgeries and a bone graft from his hip.
“I can skate on it, but I’m limited,” he said. “It tells me when to stop.”
Since Gresh retired from the post office in 2012, he and his wife, Debbie Gresh, do ballroom dancing together. He also volunteers at the rink on Fridays and Saturdays and brings his grandchildren there to skate. Jake Blaker, director of Greene County’s Parks and Recreation, called him a valuable member of the team there.
“I’m glad to have him on board,” Blaker said. “It is a plus to have somebody with Mike’s experience with skating at the rink.”
Gresh said that though the rink culture has changed over the years, he still enjoys the “atmosphere” of roller skating.
“It still feels good to put the skates on, even though I can’t do what I used to,” he said.