Four on the Floor

"He's quiet and secretive," says Ambrose. "We think he used to be a high-up at Martin Marietta and gave it all up for this. Sometimes he quits, but he always comes back."

Would Tom, now spinning J. Geils' "Centerfold," care to comment on any of this?

"No."
Maybe that's because it's now time for fast skating, ages fourteen and over. Joy Davidson, the woman in skate covers, takes a spot on the floor and digs in. She wins the race, but everyone knew she would.

"Well, it's because I've been skating once a week since I was eight," she says modestly. "My husband works second shift, so I brought my sons down with me."

All three Davidson sons--ages six to ten--are now accomplished skaters. They also know all the words to The Lion King theme song, which they sing without embarrassment while skating. Looking at them, Davidson remembers the wonders of learning to skate when she was a kid.

"Like skating backward," she says. "You learn the basic movement, and then you practice over and over again until you can cross over on the corners. Then you think, hey, how about the straightaways? As a teenager, I never felt socially adept. This was the one place I did. I never felt like a pariah out there."

She's back out there in time for the hokey pokey. Her youngest son, Micah, joins her, screaming the chorus ("Hot dog!") with abandon. When the song is over, he races across the floor, his legs barely keeping up with the rest of him.

"My chest hurts," he complains to bystander Barrows, who is still watching his ex-wife and daughter circle past. "I think I shook my bootie too hard."

"That's your solar plexus, boy," Barrows laughs. "You'll get over it. Get back on the floor.