A Reunion on Wheels at Balboa Park

It was a place to go.

And just like that famous Bostonian bar, it was a place where everybody knew your name.

Well, almost everybody. Thousands of roller skaters once spun away countless afternoons around a mile-long ribbon of asphalt at Balboa Park in Encino, turning the spot into a type of extended family gathering on weekends.

A decade has passed since the path’s heyday--time, said skater Dallas Angelier, for a 10-year reunion to recapture the public camaraderie.

“We were just like a family, everyone was real close,” said Angelier, 37, a real estate secretary who now lives in Lancaster. “It was a place for everyone to go, to be out in the fresh air, get exercise and meet people, talk to people instead of staying home.”

Angelier has contacted about 100 skaters for the event, which will begin at 9 a.m. and going all day Sunday on the east side of the park’s skate path, but she hopes many more turn out. Flyers have been posted near the park--which is at Burbank and Balboa boulevards--in grocery stores and skating rinks.

Bicycle Path

Skaters once used a bicycle path that goes around the park and Sepulveda Basin, but after several accidents and countless close calls, a skating path that circles the park was constructed in October, 1979.

Thousands soon flocked to the path, most to skate but some simply watched the spectacle on Sunday afternoons. Annual celebrations were held during the first few years, and they included a fashion show on wheels and five types of races. No events are planned for Sunday.

“Just put your skates on and let’s do it again,” Angelier said.

A skate patrol, organized by Angelier and staffed by the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, began keeping order every evening and during the day on weekends along the path soon after its construction. The 12-member patrol administered minor first aid, comforted those with broken bones until help arrived, patched blisters, steadied shaky beginners and helped keep alcohol out of the park.

“There were so many people on the path,” said Vicky England, 42, an original member of the patrol who is now a full-time mother living in Encino. “It was amazing anyone could skate at all. People would always fall in interesting ways--it was fun to watch. They would look for trees to hug or skate off the path onto the grass or grab onto the rear end of the person in front of them.”

The park’s budget for the patrollers was phased out three years later. The crowds thinned in 1983 after Van Nuys Boulevard was closed to cruisers who found their way to the park, Angelier said.

“That’s when the trouble began,” Angelier said. “It got so bad with the gangs and motorcycles. Women were getting raped and there were knife fights. They had to close the park at night and put up gates.”

“It was a lot of fun at first, but then there was a lot of hassle,” said Jim Duran, former Balboa Park director. Duran said an ambulance and patrol car were routinely stationed near the path in case of accidents or trouble.

“We had a lot of women skating around with practically nothing on. We said, ‘We don’t mind you skating here, but we think you should wear some clothes,’ ” Duran said.

Besides the standard skate wear of shorts and headphones, some enthusiasts arrived with pets, such as parrots, dogs and even boa constrictors.

Asked Politely

“I asked him to politely put it back in his car,” Angelier said of the man with a nine-foot reptile draped over his shoulders. “But he said, ‘This is my snake and I’m gonna skate with him, and he’s not hurting anybody.’ I finally called the police.”

Today, only a few dozen skaters use the path on weekday afternoons and perhaps a hundred or more on weekends. Many have to dodge buckled asphalt or endure bumpy rides from dips and cracks in the worn surface--a far cry from the once smooth ride of 10 years ago.

“We were a lot younger then,” Angelier said. “I don’t know if a lot of those skaters could skate around that one-mile path now.”