Bud Sorbello: Skating away
When the roller skating craze swept the nation in the 1970s, Bud Sorbello”™s parents saw a need for a first-class rink in their Ulster Park neighborhood: Wood ”™N Wheels was born, offering a glossy new maple indoor skating area and packing in the crowds.
“There were 11 rinks in a 40-mile radius when my parents, Dorothy and Butch, opened this place,” said, Bud Sorbello. “Most of them were outdated. My parents were really visionaries at the time — disco and skating was the rage, and Wood ”™N Wheel fit the bill nicely.”
Thirty-five years later, there are only three rinks left.
Wood ”™N Wheel is one of them, but its 10,000-square-foot rink is quiet the day after Black Friday. “I think most people are either out shopping or recovering from it,” said Sorbello, who helps out at the family business every Saturday. The economy, he says, isn”™t helping, either.
Sorbello”™s got a full calendar. Monday through Friday, he”™s busy at his full-time job at Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt Manor as its director of information technology. Saturday is spent helping out his family at its Ulster Park roller rink and amusement center. Sunday is set aside as a family day with his wife and four-year-old daughter. “Is it a busy week?” laughed Sorbello. The question is rhetorical.
“We are unbelievably busy at the hospital with the construction going on,” says Sorbello. “We have 40,000 emergency room visits every year and are currently renovating the ER to expand services. We are right in the middle of a $100 million addition that is set to open by June 2010 that will provide single-private rooms for patients. It”™s much better from the standpoint of infection control.”
Sorbello is juggling, but still glad he”™s able to give one day a week to his parents”™ business. “Wood ”™N Wheels is only open on weekends, but they will open during the week for a private party or corporate event. They did have one for IBM, which brought in 400 people, and a few of the credit unions have used the facility ”“ the company has its meeting in the party area and then uses rink and the other amenities for team building ”“ scaling the moving rock wall is one of them.”
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Sorbello”™s parents added more amenities over the years to widen appeal. “The first thing we began offering back in the 1990s was laser tag. I think we were the first in the area to have it. About five years ago, we added bumper cars. Last year, we created six acres for paintball. That”™s geared towards the 10-and-over crowd. The rink attracts families, and children in the 5 to 12 range are our biggest customer base for roller skating. Paint ball allows us to offer something for older kids and adults to enjoy.”
Electronic games and a concession area round out Wood ”™N Wheels”™ 15,000 square feet of space.
The family added new electronic signage to the Route 9W site. “You can”™t miss us” said Sorbello. “We are set back off the road, but there is plenty of traffic passing, so people know we”™re here. We hope the new signage will give us the visibility we need.”
Parties are the lifeblood of Wood ”™N Wheels, and that”™s where the pain comes in. “Parties have been off between 15 and 20 percent since the recession hit,” said Sorbello. “I know it”™s tough on my folks. We have 11 part-time employees, including my sister, my cousin and my niece. We hire high school or college kids, but it”™s been a tough economy.
“We”™re doing what we can to bring in more customers on weekends, especially now that the winter”™s here, we”™re hoping more people will be looking for some family-oriented things to do that don”™t cost a lot. We keep reading the economy is getting better, but we”™re really not seeing it. Maybe next year will be better ”“ we have to hope for that.”