CHAFFEE'S SKATING ROCKETS TO REUNITE

CHAFFEE -- Twenty-two years ago, Jeanna Perdue Bergen joined the Willow Grove Rockets acrobatic roller skating club, where she learned some fancy skating moves and, more importantly, a sense of confidence that remains with her.

The Rockets club was begun by the late Robert Grojean at his Willow Grove Skating Rink in Chaffee and performed in area parades and parking lots. The club had several incarnations from the 1950s through 1980, when Grojean died, said Erie Foster, a member of the Rockets during the late 1970s, who is working with Bergen on a Rockets Reunion. The reunion will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Willow Grove Skating Rink on Highway 77 in Chaffee.

"It's been something I've wanted to do for years," said Foster. He said there will be skating, cake and lots of reminiscing about the Rockets and Grojean. In fact the theme of the reunion is "A Celebration of Bob's Legacy."

"Bob made sure we all did the stunts carefully and safely," Bergen said of the way Grojean made them practice the spins, jumps and dancing moves they used in parades and demonstrations.

"He made everyone feel that if they worked hard they could accomplish anything," Bergen said.

"Bob encouraged those kids to do things they thought they couldn't do," said Roberta Grojean, a retired teacher in Chaffee who continued to run the skating rink after her husband's death.

Bergen said Grojean didn't differentiate between the rich and the poor, nor did he care about a young person's background.

"He believed it was what you had in your heart that was important," said Bergen, who grew up in Chaffee and joined the Rockets when she was 9.

She said the confidence and sense of self-worth Grojean and his club gave her remain with her today.

Foster, who is now 37, remembers Grojean starting to teach him skating moves when Foster was 8.

"I thought I was just doing it for fun," Foster said. A year or so later he joined the Rockets and continued skating with the club until Grojean died in 1980 and the club disbanded.

Foster recalled the many parades he performed in with the club. He remembers doing a Russian tap dance on top of a float in the 1979 SEMO District Fair parade in which the Rockets won a third- place trophy for most entertaining.

Another popular stunt was skaters jumping over barrels. Foster said he could jump over four barrels, but there were those club members who could jump five or six.

Mrs. Grojean has been busy the last couple of days getting out pictures of Rockets members doing such stunts. She is excited about again seeing people her husband worked with when they were young.

"There are people who were in the Rockets who have brought their children and even grandchildren out to the skating rink, and they always talk about Bob," Mrs. Grojean said. "I hope we have a big turnout."

ROCKETS REUNION

* When: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

* Where: Willow Grove Skating Rink on Highway 77 in Chaffee.

* For more information: call 794-2262.