Featured in Trip101: Top 15 Things To Do In Mundelein, Illinois

July 20, 2021

Author: Saptami of Trip101.com

The small village at the heart of Lake country, Illinois, is a thriving community and business center. The village has a long-standing history, while it used to be a small farming community. The village used to be the home of Potowatami Indians, who started fur trade with the French traders around the year 1650. In the 19th century, the first European settlers moved to this village. The first European to reach here was Peter Shaddle; a street of this village is named after him. Later, a group of immigrants from England reached here, escaping from the industrial depression of England. They settled here and started farming, then gradually built up a strong community. Today, this picturesque green village has slightly more than 30,000 inhabitants. The village and the area around it are perfect for outdoor adventure. Check out the below, our list of the most exciting things to do in Mundelein, Illinois….

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Just For Fun roller rink in McHenry closing after more than 70 years

McHenry, Ill. (WLS) — Just For Fun roller rink in McHenry, which has provided entertainment for families for decades, is getting ready for its final skate.

The owner of the property housing the roller skating rink at 914 N. Front Street is selling the property and the rink will close down in the fall.

Just For Fun has been in business for more than 70 years. It started out as a dance hall and was converted into a roller rink a few years later

The rink is encouraging people to come out now to enjoy one last skate. Specific dates for the final skate will be announced in early August.

Just For Fun in Mundelein, 139 N. Seymour Ave., will remain open.

Original ABC7 Chicago article

“Featured Business of the Week” in McHenry, Illinois

Jan 25, 2017

Author: McHenry Business Spotlight

In McHenry, when people mention “the roller rink”, you know they are referring to Just For Fun Roller Rink – Mchenry.

It has been around for almost 75 years. Your parents have probably told you some “Back in the day…” story about skating there as kids. Roller skating is a popular pastime for people of all ages.

Whether you are looking to get some exercise or just get the kids out of the house, Just for Fun can help. Lisa Duncan and Toby Tagliapietra took over the roller rink in 2001.

Since then, Just for Fun has seen its share of cosmetic changes, but it has remained a place for the family to spend together. They offer open skate during the week and special events through the year. They even offer their space for birthday parties and private events.

Lisa, a lifelong skater, enjoys seeing kids grow up at the rink and come back with their own children years later. Providing a safe environment for kids is her main focus.

McHenry has few places for kids to have fun so Lisa and Toby work very hard to keep Just for Fun alive. They have had some obstacles along the way, but with the help of devoted patrons, they have been able to keep the rink open. Even with having their own struggles, Lisa still makes time for those in need. In 2014 she hosted a coat and food drive to benefit local residents. Lisa invites you to stop in and check it out. You may be surprised to see how much it has changed over the years.


About McHenry Business Spotlight:
McHenry Business Spotlight is a facebook page where you can learn more about local businesses and what they have to offer residents in McHenry. This page will choose a “business of the week”.
Contact us on Facebook @Mchenrybusinessspotlight

New Floors in Mundelein! (pics)

New skating and snack bar area floors!

August 14 through the 18th, 2016 we resurfaced our skating floor and food area floors.

Rink keeps rolling through hard times, with public’s help

July 4, 2015
just-for-fun-skate-counter
Just for Fun, a McHenry County roller rink that has been around for more than 80 years, looks for community support in order to keep its doors open.

Just for Fun roller skating rink in McHenry seeks to buck the industry’s decline and stay open.

The local skating rink has long been Kathy Nowak’s home away from home, her escape from sad times and the place where she met her best friend.

Now Kathy, 14, and that best friend, Noah Erickson, 16, have spearheaded a mission to save the roller skating rink, Just For Fun, in McHenry.

When they learned that the establishment’s operators could not afford some much-needed building repairs, the teens, who help out around the rink, started a crowd-funding campaign on GoFundMe seeking materials, services and money to breathe new life into the 1930s-era structure. The community also has rallied to raise money in more old-fashioned ways, through car washes and word-of-mouth.

Though McHenry city officials said recently that there were no pending building code violations at the rink, operators say the structure is in need of a new roof, a fresh coat of paint, outdoor lighting, new drywall and many other small upgrades. The goal, they say, is to make the rink an inviting and safe destination, particularly for local youths.

So far the online effort alone has raised more than $600. Other contributors — many citing happy childhood memories made at Just For Fun — have dropped off cash and gift cards. Local tradesmen have offered their services for free. Older folks have stopped by to swap stories of skating at Just For Fun in the 1940s and ’50s. Some have brought photos from that era, along with skates and Just for Fun jackets and embroidered patches.

The rink’s operator, Lisa Duncan, 47, said she is grateful for the outpouring of support from the public.

The Spring Grove woman said Kathy and Noah started the fundraiser — at first without her knowledge — after she told them, “This will probably be our last (season). At the end of summer, that’s it. We just can’t afford to do it anymore.”

Duncan said she barely makes enough to cover operating expenses, let alone pay for upgrades to the building, which she described as looking “like a haunted house.” Also the proprietor of a newer — and, she said, more profitable — rink by the same name in Mundelein, Duncan said she does not take a salary from the McHenry location.

But amid all of the community goodwill, Duncan admits that she’s also gotten some negative feedback about the fundraising effort. She acknowledges that the building has been on and off the market — it was recently listed at $575,000 — and some critics have questioned whether operators are taking advantage of the community goodwill to fix up the building and sell it.

In that way, the Just For Fun effort is like many online crowd-funding campaigns, which often come with few guarantees and require a leap of faith from those who decide to offer help.

Yet Duncan says that, even if the building does change hands, her wish is that it remains a skating rink forever. She said she believes it’s a rare spot in the community where young people can gather for healthy fun.

“I would have to sell my soul to really let it close now. … There’s no way I could,” Duncan said. “We’ve all put our heart and soul and so much effort into it to keep it the way it is. The roller rink is not a money-making place. It’s really a safe haven for these kids.”

Wade Cepulis, whose family owns the building and whose late grandmother, Aldona, ran the rink for nearly 50 years, said he supports the efforts to spruce it up.

“She has made a lot of good efforts there,” he said of Duncan. “But (roller skating) is a cyclical thing. Some years were strong and some haven’t been. Hopefully, the popularity is swinging back.”

Cepulis, of Wauwatosa, Wis., recalled helping his grandmother run the rink when he was a child and spending weekends in her apartment upstairs. He remembered the large cottonwood trees that used to surround the building and the miniature golf course there that his late father Ed built.

Duncan herself helped bring the establishment back to life once before.

A lifelong skater, Duncan said she was a recent transplant from Chicago to McHenry County many years ago when she learned the rink had been shuttered and was on the verge of being condemned. Duncan said she tracked down Aldona Cepulis at an assisted living facility shortly before her death and promised to fix up the rink if she could lease and run it.

Duncan hosts all-night skates and offers special activities for kids who are disabled or do not skate. She invites local high school band students to come in, set up their instruments and play until 11 p.m. Her boyfriend, Toby Tagliapietra, a former member of the U.S. roller hockey team, began a youth squad at the rink.

Noah Erickson said Just for Fun helped him find friends and community when he returned to the McHenry area when he was about 10, after having lived on the East Coast for several years.

“We are all family here,” he said.

Duncan knows that, if the skating rink is to survive, it may be bucking an industry decline.

Jim McMahon has been executive director of the Indianapolis-based Roller Skating Association International, since in the 1980s, which he called the “heyday” of roller skating. Then were 1,600 rinks in the United States, he said; today, that number stands at about 1,200.

McMahon, who met his wife of 42 years in a roller rink, echoed the sentiments that a rink is an invaluable place for kids and communities.

And though it can be challenging for a roller rink to get the financial support it needs in a smaller community, such a community is really where a roller rink is most needed. “Usually the roller rink is the only thing in town to get the kids off the street,” he said.

Stephanie King, 25, of McHenry, began skating at the rink when she was 10. Now she brings her two children there. She said Duncan is like a mother to her.

“We are like a little family. That is what makes it special for me and my kids,” King said.

Duncan said she’s often given deals to people who can’t afford the entry fees and that young people often come to her with their personal problems.

“I give to everybody that asks me. If I have it, I will give it to you,” Duncan said “I just need some help to do some of the repairs.”

Original article here.