Hammonton Skating Center brings fun to a new generation
Page 4 • Wednesday, January 23, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
SKATING, from Page 1
When it re-opened after the ren-
ovations, HSC introduced the Fun-
Zone, which Mazeika described as
a “giant indoor jungle gym.” Other
HSC attractions include the Roll-
way Café, an arcade that provides
fun for all ages, a glow-in-the-dark
party room and more.
When the HSC was renovated,
air conditioning units were in-
stalled, which allowed the facility
to stay open during the summer for
the first time in its history. This al-
lowed for the introduction of the
HSC’s successful summer day
camp program, which accepts
campers from ages 4 to 13 for a
minimum of 12 days during the
season (June 17-August 30).
Registration is currently open for
the HSC’s 2019 summer day camp
program. The cost of registration is
$60, but parents can receive a 50-
percent-off discount if they register
their children for the program by
March 31.
The summer day camp program
charges a daily rate of $45 ($40 per
day for additional siblings), plus a
10 percent-off discount for Ham-
monton residents.
“Last summer was our best sum-
mer yet … Our summer camp is
our biggest hit,” Mazeika said.
Dating back to the days of Roll-
way, Hammonton’s skating rink
hosted roller hockey. In 2019, the
HSC will be once again be the
home of the HSC Hammerheads
youth roller hockey program,
which Mazeika said doubled in size
over the past year.
Parks & Rec
reorganizes
PARKS, from Page 1
mously. The board proceeded to
nominate Alberta Eppler to stay
on as recording secretary.
The committee then welcomed
a new member in Mica McCul-
lough. McCullough is the current
co-chair of the Hammonton Green
Committee.
“I’m a relatively new transplant
to Hammonton, from a little place
just south of Nashville, Tennessee.
I am happy to be here and to meet
all of you,” McCullough said.
Cappuccio addressed the com-
mittee with a few words.
“I’ve been a part of this group
for a long time and its been an
honor to be here. Everybody here
has a good heart, everybody here
has determination to do the right
thing for the community and the
families in the community and I
think thats a great thing. We all
take the time to recognize that this
Tuesday night, once a month, is
working and it’s important,” Cap-
puccio said.
Sacco made a presentation to
the commission about the Na-
tional “Kids to Parks” Day, which
is coordinated by the National
Park Trust, and takes place annu-
ally on the third Saturday in May.
“Basically any town can adopt
the day with a mayoral proclama-
tion. It would be a day to encour-
age families to come out and
participate in an event at the park
like identifying birds or something
along those lines that would be
fun for kids. It would be a town of
Hammonton and Park and Rec
sponsored event,” Sacco said.
Ordille made a motion to ap-
prove the event dependent on any-
thing else taking place at the Lake
Park on that date. The motion was
seconded by John Iacovelli and
passed unanimously.
Councilman Sam Rodio en-
couraged the commission to begin
to put the word out to any athletic
organizations that need use of the
facilities to come to the February
19 meeting and get a jump start on
the spring/summer season.
Other sports programs offered at
the HSC include an eight-week
skate lesson program, and a part-
nership with the Shore Points
Roller Derby team, of the Women’s
Flat Track Derby Association.
“We have a couple different
sports programs. We have the roller
hockey, we have our normal skate
lessons that we do and then we’re
also home of the Shore Points
Roller Derby team. We’re the home
of them, and they practice with us
and have bouts,” Mazeika said.
The HSC also offers partnerships
to companies and organizations
seeking to host parties at the facil-
ity. For more information, call
(609) 561-8061.
As the local skating rink nears its
50th anniversary, Mazeika said
many parents and grandparents still
come into the HSC with their fam-
ilies and share their own childhood
memories from the days of Roll-
way.
“What keeps us going is the
memories from when we went
roller skating, and now our kids go
roller skating and then our grand-
kids will go roller skating. It’s a
family tradition that has lasted
close to 50 years,” Mazeika said.
To recognize those who have
supported the facility since its early
days, Mazeika said the HSC will
host a Rollway Skating Rink Re-
union on Saturday, February 23,
during which adults can lace up
their skates and hit the rink from
8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. after a fam-
ily skate period from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and
$12 for children. Children’s admis-
sion includes a skate rental, two-
hour skating session, access to the
FunZone and a slice of pizza and
beverage from the Rollway Café.
Mazeika said the transition that
has taken place over the past two-
plus years has been considerably
successful in large part due to the
precedent set by Rollway’s previ-
ous ownership. Mazeika said he
and his staff also operate with the
same commitment to providing
family fun to this day.
“I really think the big motto for
us is ‘affordable family fun that’s
clean, safe and fun.’ Those are the
main things that we strive and
focus on,” Mazeika said.
For more information about the
Hammonton Skating Center, call
(609) 561-8061, email HSCfun-
[email protected]
or
visit
www.hscfuncenter.com.
Gribbin family supports service
THG/Stephen Pistone. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
(L-r) Sarah, Grace, Brynn, Paige and Councilman Thomas Gribbin spent the day together as a family, making Valentine’s
Day cards for local veterans at Stockton University’s Kramer Hall on January 21.