PORTLAND, Ore. — Thousands of people packed a nearly vacant mall here Saturday to say goodbye to a city institution.
Actually, two institutions.
The Lloyd Center opened in 1960 with the nation’s first in-mall ice skating rink. Countless people laced up skates there over the years. But there was one skating couple who delighted fans above all others.
Tally and Jerry Leonard began skating together at the mall in February 1967, and they’ve performed four days a week there for nearly 60 years since.
The Washington Post featured the couple in a front-page story Sunday, and hundreds of commenters recounted their memories of watching the Leonards perform. A veteran said he spent his final hours at the rink before deploying overseas, and his 3-year-old daughter “was entranced by” the Leonards, a “graceful pair gliding around the ice.”
The Lloyd Center closed Saturday evening — one of thousands of large shopping centers that have been torn down nationwide over the past decade. As part of the mall’s closure, the Leonards performed one final routine together to Nat King Cole’s “L.O.V.E.”
Their routines used to feature many lifts and jumps, but Jerry is 75 now and Tally is 81, so they relied on fancy footwork instead. The crowd cheered and threw roses as the couple ended the performance with a kiss.
Jerry Leonard said Sunday that the send-off was “bittersweet.”
“We were overwhelmed by the appreciation for us and for our skating,” he said. “Indeed, Lloyd Center was special. I realize now that we have lost our happy place, our comfort place for so many decades.”
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