ROLL
OUT
A DOSE OF NOSTALGIA MEETS FITNESS & COMMUNITY by EMORY RAKESTRAW photo by TERAH HOOBLER
10
WILMA
JULY 2022
A
disco ball illuminates the hardwood floors, ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! blasts through the speakers, high-waisted shorts and knee-high socks don each skater as they glide on quad skates. No, it’s not the 1980s, it’s 2022. Wanderlust Wilmington Roller Skaters (WWR) might seem like a favorite pastime (literally), but this group meets weekly to exercise, socialize, and build a community on the rink. Formed as an extension of Wanderlust Wilmington 2.0 – a private Facebook group for transplants and locals to connect – a single comment inspired ANDREA STAR and NICOLE COLLIER to form WWR. “Someone posted in Wanderlust Wilmington 2.0, ‘I like to skate, does anyone else skate?’ so, Nicole and I started a group chat and we skated on Thursday at Scooter’s Skating Center,” Star says. “I decided to start the WWR Facebook group and post events. Most of us haven’t skated
in ten-fifteen years. We just recently started the group and have grown to almost 150 members.” Aside from a dose of nostalgia, WWR provides both fitness and mental benefits to its members. The demographic ranges from adults in their sixties to twenty-somethings who just relocated to the area. While Star says the current members are mostly women, all are welcome. WWR meets for Adult Skate Night each Thursday at Scooter’s Family Skating Center, 341 Shipyard Boulevard. For those looking for some fresh air, Sunday is reserved for a pre-skate dinner or picnic followed by outdoor skating at Long Leaf Park. Eventually, Star and Collier hope to be able to rent out Scooter’s for beginners night. “I feel like WWR creates a sense of collectiveness. I try to instill to let go of the fear that could be from skating, or the outside world, and to let yourself glide with the skates,” she says. “I have fibromyalgia, and I wasn’t being as active as I should. Skating has changed my life. Someone posted in the group that skating was helping their mental health. A lot of our members, like myself, are introvert-
