July 19, 2021 – West Bend, WI – Hundreds of people turned out for the final Friday night skate, July 17, 2021 at Skate Country, 1950 N. Main Street, in West Bend.
Kids and adults laced up their skates and got their glide on for a final time as the location is closing and the building sold.
Tommy Neuy has been running Skate Country the last five years. “Since 1981 this has been Skate Country,” he said. “When I came here the place was a little rundown. It has been a long road.
“I left my job to come here and it was a big risk but I saw the place was going to shut down five years ago and I thought when we were kids we had nothing to do and I thought this would help keep kids off heroin.”
“This place means everything to me. I’m sad to see it go. Everybody has a story about this place and I’m glad I was the person to be here to see it out,” Neuy said. “I can’t believe we’re coming to the end… I really can’t.”
Friday evening the floor was filled with the hum of skaters dashing in the dark amidst the beams of strobe lights and flickering white rays of the disco ball.
There were handwritten signs in the entrance thanking “Tommy & Skate Country.”
“I love this place with all my heart and these kids are my everything,” said Neuy. “Most of these kids I know by name, but when I first got here they treated me like GAR-BAGE. My security guys would quit after one night; these kids are tough but they’re good with me.
“We’ve never had no trouble, but if there is it is because of some crazy girl.”
Neuy said he has been involved in skating for 30 years. “I know nothing about taxes, nothing about women, but I know a lot about skating,” he said. 
The 22,810-square-foot building has been sold. There’s expected to be an announcement on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 that the parcel has been purchase by Habitat for Humanity Washington County for use as a new ReStore.
Click HERE for more details on the sale of Skate Country.
