Retro Top O’ The Strip rembrance party Feb 22 in Cortland


Staff report

NILES

A retro remembrance party for the Top O’ the Strip Roller Rink will take place at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Cortland Roller Rink, 290 S. High Street. Admission is $5 plus skate rental.

Several people now in their 40s who loved and remembered the Top O’ the Strip have gathered the past four years as a tribute to the U.S. Route 422 rink that was destroyed by the historic May 31, 1985, tornado, which also killed nine people in Niles.

The tornado hit at 6:54 p.m., only minutes before the popular rink would have been opened to a few hundred teens, said Cindy Weiss Rogers, one of the organizers of the Feb. 22 event.

“It was a childhood memory for many young teens in the ’80s, and one that these now adults will never forget,” she said. “For many kids in the area, it was their final day of the school year. Many of them planned to attend their typical Friday night at the roller rink.”

Four years ago, Murphy Miller, a Niles firefighter and former Top O’ The Strip employee, created a Facebook page in honor of the roller rink. That led to the first reunion party at Cortland Roller Rink and similar reunions each year thereafter.

This year’s event is the first one open to children, but it’s open only to children accompanied by adults. It will feature door prizes from the ’80s, such as vintage T-shirts and posters. Eighties trivia will be featured between songs, and attendees dressed in ’80s attire will receive prizes.

For more information, call 330-501-8680.

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