Glenn Taylor of Ashtonfield admits he had no idea how it would go when he put out a simple Facebook post to see if anyone was interested in social rollerskating.
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In his wildest dreams he couldn't have imagined the feedback. But let's start at the beginning.
"I wanted to do some rollerskating with my family," he explained.
"I was 61, had never done it before, but hadn't realised how out of favour the sport had become.
"We found we had to go all the way to Speers Point to do it in the park down there where they have this great set-up.
"After a few weeks I thought maybe we can get something organised closer to home, so I sent out a post on Facebook asking if anyone was interested. That would have been in December."
Fast forward six weeks and he has been overwhelmed. The Maitland City Rollers have been born and currently have 204 keen skaters joined up - and the number is growing.
Less than 24 hours after the Mercury story, another 40 had joined, taking the number of members to just under 250.
"At one stage a few weeks back we had 90 join up overnight," Mr Taylor said. "I was bombarded ... it was amazing.
"We skate on a Tuesday night and have people of all ages and skating skills come along, some on their own, some with kids and also small groups - all ages are welcome. Some of the young ones pick it up straight away, but it doesn't come so easily to others.
"You'll even see some skating with a broom in their hand to help keep them steady as they improve their skills."
But all that success has created a problem. Where to do it?
"At the moment we're heading down to Maitland Park and skating on the netball courts," Mr Taylor said. "But we know we're on borrowed time there when the netball season starts.
"So I've written to council and am asking if they would build us a skating area, ideally down at Maitland Park.
"It wouldn't take much, just a smooth concrete surface about the size of two netball courts. That's all."
To date he hasn't heard back but remains hopeful.
Mr Taylor said anyone who wants to come along must first register through their Facebook group - Maitland City Rollers.
"We have about 15 spare sets of skates so people who want to give it a try don't have to go out and buy new skates," he said.
"It's just a great activity for the family, it's outside, it's exercise and and it's fun."
