Donor boosts rink's effort to get new wheels
The Boys and Girls Club Roller Rink is well on its way to buying 100 pairs of new roller blades thanks to a generous donation by one of its past club members.
Richard Citrino grew up next to the roller rink in Evergreen and has been going there since he was 5.
The Boys and Girls Club took over the rink in 2005 after it had fallen into disrepair.
Chris Wieglund has managed it for the past three and a half years and has witnessed firsthand how the rink has once again become a great place for youths to get together and have fun in a safe, healthy environment.
Over the years the club became more than just a neighborhood hangout to Citrino. It changed his life.
When Wieglund first met Citrino, he says he felt that he was the kind of kid that could go in either direction.
“He hadn’t had an easy life,” he said.
Wieglund credits volunteer Brian Cartwright and employee Konnor Hopewell as being responsible for seeing the potential in Citrino.
“They both opened everybody’s eyes to Richard. They took a chance and reached out to him, Wieglund said. “That’s what we’re all here for — to give kids a chance and a different outlook on life.”
“Richard may have been different from most of the other kids in the neighborhood, yet he’d always worked hard to earn money to help out his family,” Hopewell said.
Citrino found an extended family at the Boys and Girls Club. When he turned 18 this year he started volunteering every weekend and often puts together the music playlists.
The rink currently has 80 pairs of roller blades, but on Friday nights when the door opens, they’re gone in about 15 minutes, Wieglund said.
As a pay-it-forward gesture, Citrino recently handed Wieglund an envelope with $1,200 of his own money earmarked for a fund that had been started to buy new skates for the rink.
The goal is to raise $6,000 that would pay for 100 new pairs of blades. As of last Friday morning, they were at $2,497 and are challenging businesses and individuals to match or beat Richard Citrino’s donation. All of the money raised will go directly to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kalispell and Columbia Falls.
“We’re more than just a roller rink,” Wieglund says. “While we’re here to have fun, we also offer guidance on the rights and wrongs in life.” The club’s rules on no cussing and no exit unless you’re leaving the property, for example, help keep everyone on their best behavior.
“I had a troubled past and the rink gave me a safe place to go,” Citrino said. “They made me feel like I belonged and I started taking better care of myself. It’s a wonderful place for kids.”
“It just goes to show,” Wieglund says, “when you give someone a chance it will come back to you. When you serve others, you serve yourself.”
Donations of any amount can be mailed to Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country, P.O. Box 7475, Kalispell, MT 59904. Write “For Blades” on your check.
Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.