Soren Rasmussen got the idea of owning and operating a roller rink from a good friend named Buzzy. Buzzy owned and operated a couple of roller skating rinks around Seattle and told Soren that you could make a living with them. With Buzzy’s help, Soren decided to go into the business. He picked Oak Harbor because it was a growing town and had an expanding military base. The movie house in Oak Harbor had also burned down and there was very little entertainment in the town at the time. Soren wanted his best friend, Darrell Ellis to partner with him in this adventure. Soren and Darrell bought a large lot by downtown Oak Harbor with the idea of building a dual business skating rink and bowling alley. They didn’t have a lot of money and found that the cost of a new Roller Rink would be a stretch for them financially. They began looking around Oak Harbor and found the Neil Barn, farmhouse and acreage with this former farm. They decided that the barn would work as a roller rink with a lot of work. The two families bought the barn and Darrell and his family bought and lived in the farmhouse next to the barn. They thought they would use the upper floor of the barn for Roller Skating and would eventually convert the lower floor into a bowling alley as soon as they could recoup enough money from the skating rink. As it turned out someone else built a bowling alley in town before they were ready so they converted it into storage.
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