End of an Era at Friday Night Skate

Ten years – that’s 5 million, 259,488 minutes – were the seasons of love that Druid Hills resident Dawn Francis-Chewning gave to Friday Night Skate.

But on Friday night, April 29, the time rolled around at for her to be honored for her exceptional service as chief orchestrator of Friday Night Skate, which is the social highlight of many fourth, fifth and sixth-graders in the Druid Hills community.

As the 100-plus kids circling the top floor of Glenn’s Youth and Activities Building on North Decatur Road Friday night during the final, much-anticipated “lights out” last skate, “the Skate Lady” surveyed the room with a satisfied expression, but tears in her eyes.

At Sunday morning services, nearly everyone in the sanctuary stood up to acknowledge they had been involved in the beloved ministry, which has yielded Francis-Chewning the official title “The Skate Lady” and renamed a room in the building as “The Dawn Francis-Chewning Skate Room.”

With her children, Bailey, Haynes and Abigail, graduating this year from , and Georgia State, Francis-Chewning said it’s time for her to graduate to a new life. 

“My kids got to grow up with me. It's been a lovely decade," she said.

Replacing her is going to take a committee and a staff person, said the Rev. Susan M. Pinson, minister for Children and Older Adults at Glenn.

“Dawn has made it her mission to keep the ties of the church support forefront on the ministry of Friday Night Skate,” Pinson said. “With the support of her children and volunteers, she has spent the last decade recruiting and organizing volunteers, shopping for supplies, keeping the skates organized and sanitized, and registering hundreds of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders each year to spend Friday nights during the school year just being kids. Skating, snacking, and squealing are all a part of the evening of organized chaos... I will often be in the community and a stranger tell me that their child/grandchild/neighbor loves Friday Night Skate and thanks me – yet I assure everyone that the magic of Friday Night Skate only happens because of Dawn, 'The Skate Lady.'"

Surprisingly, the Skate Lady can’t skate.

“I tried and I fell, but my knees couldn't hack it. I can ice skate” said the Florida native. “The kids think I’m on skates, though. In the space of two hours, I will clock 10,000 steps, easy. ... and I've taken a pedometer.”

Francis-Chewning said it’s all about the music, but a lot of it is about dedicated work and leadership.

On any given Friday night, it’s not unusual to see top-of-their-field lawyers, doctors and politicians – often still in suit and tie – handing out skates to clamoring kids or staffing the admission desk.

DeKalb Commissioner Jeff Rader, for example, was on hand for the final round.

“I am just glad they're there an they can see what FNS (Friday Night Skate) is all about,” Francis-Chewning said. “The kids look forward to it all week long. FNS has one rule: Respect yourself and respect others. As in the Lion King, ‘Remember who you are.’ You are the daughter or the son of so and so. You are important.”

For many kids, it’s a first chance to work, operating the concessions and deejaying, even mopping up after each skate session.

“There is nothing glamorous about this job. ... And that Skate Room. It can get pretty funky,” Francis-Chewning said.