ROLLER DERBY FOUNDATION Preserving the History of Roller Derby & Giving Back to Skaters The ROLLER DERBY FOUNDATION is the dream and creation of Gary Powers of New York City, a fan of the banked track sport since 1967. From the moment Gary first saw skaters whizzing 'round the curved skating surface on TV, the color and excitement of the game, the competition and theatricality of it all, he was immediately hooked. Raised in Pennsylvania, he was exposed to the thrilling weekly contests of the National Skating Derby's Philadelphia Warriors who had moved East in the Fall of '67 from Hawaii. The Warriors were Roller Games' at its best; a team composed of skaters trained and nurtured in the original Roller Derby league. The following year, Gary found the other major banked track league on TV, the original Roller Derby with its premier team, the San Francisco Bay Bombers. Although he loved the game skated as legitimately as possible, being the first to call himself a 'purist,' he loved the competition in both leagues, never getting into the debate of which style of skating was better, since when it was all said and done, to Gary, it was all Roller Derby, just the same. Why does he feel so indebted to these great athletes of the Roller Derby? Because Gary Powers was one of the many fans whose life was literally saved by the magic the Roller Derby brought to the lives of so many every week. For years, fans became entranced with the game, its skaters and the seemingly emotional tug-of-war, the fight-to-the-finish the teams engaged in week after week, and the ultimate 'good triumphing over evil' component which eventually developed of Leo Seltzer's creation. It was Seltzer, the Chicago entrepreneur, who in 1935, during the Great Depression, first conceived of the Transcontinental Roller Derby, a roller skating marathon, pitting teams composed of a man and woman skater, against each other in a mythical race across the country. Promoting his Roller Derby marathon in large and small hamlets, Seltzer was open to ideas on how to improve his game and was assisted by the legendary sportswriter Damon Runyon who suggested that body contact between teams trying to score points might attract more interest from audiences... and it did. Leo Seltzer's sport captivated many across the nation. Women, some brusied and battered in unhappy marriages would come to the game, scream all night at the performers, then leave the arena with the hope that they, too, would triumph one day. In many ways, both simple and profound, the Roller Derby was about hope. When Roller Derby rolled into New York City in November, 1948, the nation was still adjusting to life after World War II and Gotham had never been receptive to the banked track game. But a new medium called television plus the battles between two of Derby's greatest female skaters, Midge 'Toughie' Brasuhn and Gerry Murray, changed all that. New York City and the nation were enthralled with the Roller Derby and the game was the toast of the country. Skaters appeared on all the major magazine covers as well as all the TV & radio shows, selling-out arenas everywhere, culminating in a five-day sold-out engagement at Madison Square Garden for the first Roller Derby World Series (June, 1949). But after four years, the medium called television, which had catapulted the Derby to success, overexposed the game so that Roller Derby, once the talk of the country, was soon limping into any city which would host the game. The Derby eventually left the country in 1953 to skate in Europe. Jerry Seltzer, son of Leo, took over day-to-day operation of Roller Derby in the late 50s and within a decade the sport was once again, a tremendous commercial success, selling out arenas everywhere. Another league, the National Skating Derby, known as Roller Games, sprang up outside Los Angeles with a much more theatrical version of the game, comprised of many former Derby stars. Soon Roller Games was a success in Australia, Japan and Canada. To the surprise of many, Jerry Seltzer closed the original Roller Derby in December, 1973, ending his family's involvement with the sport they created. To this day, fans remain confused and stunned as to why the original Derby ended? All the skaters who had depended upon the sport as their sole means of employment were without their venue and fans would forever lose the comfort of their cherished game. Does it surprise anyone that the passion for the sport or the memory of the incredible game has never diminished even thirty years later? For years after the original Derby closed, Gary Powers continued to follow whatever was occuring in the banked track world due to the kindness of fans like Phil Berrier of North Carolina, one of the greatest Derby fans ever. The death of legendary skater Joan Weston in May, 1997 sent Gary to the internet to seek out her obituary and other fans to help with the sadness. It was thru the internet where his work preserving the history of the Roller Derby and assisting skaters took on greater urgency. In 1999, he heard that filmmakers were unable to complete a documentary of Hall-of-Fame skater Ann Calvello, so Gary began raising funds to help finish the film. In the process, he met Calvello and other skaters like Lydia Clay and Buddy Atkinson, Sr. and the excitement Derby had always given him, was reborn all over again. In the thirty years since the original Roller Derby had ended, the lives of many skaters had changed and there was a need to help those who had fallen on hard times. Over the past four years, Gary, with the help of other fans, has been able to give tens of thousands of dollars to former skaters in the form of cash grants, plane tickets, parties, get-togethers, phone cards or whatever it takes to improve the quality of the lives of these great stars of the Roller Derby. His efforts with the sale of Roller Derby videos has helped rekindle the love affair many fans once felt for the Roller Derby. Because of his desire to preserve and protect the history of the Roller Derby, he has accumulated one of the largest collections of memorabilia in the country which is professionally displayed and on view for all to see in his home in New York City. And he has been able to be in contact with all the great stars of the banked track like Ann Calvello, Gerry Murray, Terri Anderson, Mike Gammon, Gene Gammon, Julie Patrick, Billy Bogash, Cathie Read, Janet Earp, John Hall, Norma Rossner, Ann Penderghast, the Atkinson family, Judy Arnold, Cliff Butler, Ronnie Robinson, Pete Boyd, Jackie Garello, Bob Woodberry, Frank Macedo, 'Cookie' Kadyra, Gloria Mack, Billy Gardner and many, many more. Many fans have come to parties and get-togethers at Gary's house where they are able to meet their childhood heros, those great stars of the Roller Derby, and meet each other. And to that end, we are proud to launch this ROLLER DERBY FOUNDATION website in order to keep the memory of the Roller Derby, its history and the achievements of its great stars... alive forever.