Dexter's Rolling Skating Rink Did you ever go roller skating at Dexter's Rolling Skating Rink in Niagara Falls in the 1940s when you were a kid? Oh what a treat that was! Dexter's was located on Main Street between Chilton Avenue and Orchard Park Drive. When you walked in and paid whatever it cost to skate there, you walked up to the person who was in charge of the roller skates who fitted you up with a pair of high-top four-wheel roller skates. And then with your skates on you timidly worked your way to the rink itself. And there it was before you--with all of the sights and sounds that you knew would be there! There were people of all ages skating on the rink. There were kids just like yourself and there were teenagers and there were those who were probably in their twenties or thirties. But most of all there was the sound of the music that was playing as everyone skated round and round the rink. It was organ music. Now it's difficult for me to determine at this late date whether Dexter's had a real organ there with a real person playing it or whether it was recorded music that was played on a phonograph; however, I tend to believe that it was a real live organ that played the music. And such wonderful music it was! When you first stepped onto the rink and started to put one foot in front of the other, the music grabbed a hold of you and you knew that you wanted to skate to the music. At first it was just a glide or two to the melody but when you realized how wonderful the music was, you had dreams of being Sonja Henie (the marvelous ice skater of the '30s and '40s for those of you who don't recognize her name!). You wanted to do all sorts of fancy twirls and intricate steps and movements and after you had skated around the rink a few times, well you just had to try to be Niagara Falls' next Sonja Henie! As a result you managed to find yourself sprawled out in the middle of the floor feeling a bit foolish. But the organ music is what I remember most about Dexter's. At times it was lively and at times it was soft and romantic. When it was romantic I envied the couples who skated arm and arm gliding around the rink. How I envied them. Oh to skate like they were skating-it was like dancing. But then I was only around ten years old. It was all that I could do to put one foot in front of the other and get around the rink without falling down. But do you know what? I'd love to hear the organ music that was played at Dexter's Roller Skating Rink again and picture myself either twirling around like Sonja Henie or being on the arm of a handsome boy and just gliding romantically around the rink to the wonderful songs that the organ played in the 1940s. Just another memory, vee