It’s a concept that’s fuelled Canadian winter fun for generations — if you flood it, they will skate.
Across the townships of Essa, Springwater and Oro-Medonte, ice makers are busy building outdoor rinks so locals can get out on the blades — hockey, figure or bob — and enjoy the crisp winter air and a bit of exercise.
Done by hand, in many cases with a simple garden hose, building ice is a long, cold, tedious process.
Laid down in thin layers and allowed to freeze before the next layer of water is added, ice building is akin to watching paint dry.
In Oro-Medonte, the ice makers score a valuable assist from the local fire department.
“The township co-ordinates with volunteers in the community to get the outdoor rinks up and running,” Josh Andrews, the township’s supervisor of facilities and parks, said in an email. “Oro-Medonte fire assists with the first floods to get more water on the pad and then the ice is maintained by the amazing volunteer groups.”
In Essa, township staff lay the frozen foundation at outdoor rinks in Thornton, Angus and Baxter.
On Wednesday morning, Kevin Adamthwaite, a parks and facility operator for Essa Township, was flooding the rink in Thornton.
Bundled up to stave off the early-morning cold, Adamthwaite soaked the surface, not overly concerned with making it glassy smooth.
He was focused on building a solid base.
“We’ll bring in the Zamboni after I get the base done and it will smooth and level everything,” he said.
Essa officials are hoping the rink in Thornton will be open this weekend. They’re targeting a mid-next-week opening for the Angus rink and an opening in Baxter the following week.
In Springwater, the outdoor rinks are maintained by groups of community volunteers who have to wait for Mother Nature to co-operate before they set about their annual ice-making activities.
According to Briana Dean, manager of recreation, parks and facilities for Springwater, each group will start the ice-building process once they have volunteers co-ordinated and the weather co-operates.
“In order to form a base which can be flooded, they require a significant amount of snow that contains more moisture in order to pack them, followed by consistently cold weather (-10 degrees Celsius or below) for at least a week,” Dean explained. “The groups of dedicated volunteers monitor the weather conditions and when they are favourable, they try to flood the outdoor rinks.”
Between the three townships, there are almost two dozen outdoor ice surfaces.
Essa has rinks in Thornton, Angus and Baxter.
Oro-Medonte has eight outdoor rinks — Ramey Memorial Park, Danny McHugh Memorial Park, Horseshoe Valley Memorial Park, Sweetwater Park, Shelswell Park, Shanty Bay Park, Hawkestone Community Hall and Ravines of Oro-Medonte.
According to Oro-Medonte’s website, the rinks at Horseshoe Valley Memorial, Shelswell and Shanty Bay parks are currently open.
Springwater has an even dozen: Hillsdale Community Park, Doran Park in Midhurst, Minesing Memorial Park, Ed Valendar Park in Phelpston, Homer Barrett Park in Elmvale, Grenfel Community Park, Midhurst Green Pine Park, Anten Mills Community Park, Stonemanor Woods Park, Snow Valley Highlands Park, Paddy Dunn Park and Carson Ridge.
According to Springwater’s website, Hillsdale Community, Midhurst Doran and Minesing Memorial parks have skating schedules posted.
Midhurst Green Pine is open until 10 p.m. Stonemanor Woods and Snow Valley Highlands parks are open until dusk.
According to everyone BarrieToday interviewed, there’s one golden rule when it comes to community rinks — be respectful to fellow ice users and the folks who work to maintain it.
“Respect, respect and respect is a general rule of thumb to use our outdoor pads,” said Chris Rankin, manager of parks and recreation for Essa Township. “We all need to look out for and help our fellow skaters.”
To ensure there’s no conflict between leisure skaters and hockey players, the rinks in Essa and Springwater are outfitted with signs that clearly illustrate the designated times for each activity.
“Each rink has different times assigned for public skating hours and shinny,” Dean said. “During public skating times, no sticks and pucks are allowed on the ice. Users are asked to share the ice fairly so they remain a safe and fun space for all users.”
Essa won’t allow hockey and leisure skating at the same time, for the same reason — safety.
“We currently do not allow hockey and leisure skating at the same time due to the dangers of flying pucks. This is where respect comes into play,” said Rankin.
“We do have specific times posted on the outdoor rink wall stating which time is for each function.”
In Oro-Medonte, the township posts rules of usage at each rink, but it doesn’t designate any specific times for skating versus hockey.
“We let community members organize themselves to what works best in their community group,” Andrews said. “We recommend leisure skating after school hours and save the hockey-specific items for later in the evenings when the little ones are sleeping, but that’s only a suggestion.”
In Oro-Medonte, the rules outline that users must wear a Canadian Standards Association-approved helmet, and that children and youth should be under adult supervision. In Essa and Springwater, a helmet is recommended.
All three townships encourage users to respect the facilities and, in the case of Springwater and Oro-Medonte, respect the volunteers who are giving up their time to maintain the facilities.
“The community outdoor rinks only exist if volunteers do,” said Andrews. “The community members involved are very dedicated to the community and its residents.”
To volunteer to be a part of the ice-building crew in Oro-Medonte, one has to complete a volunteer interest and waiver form, acknowledge the outdoor rink manual and attend or watch a training video.
Folks who want to help in Springwater can reach out to the township’s recreation department, which will direct them to the main volunteer for a specific rink.
In Essa, township staff shoulder the burden of ice building, but Rankin would be more than grateful if some interested residents would like to step up and lend a hand.
“In the future, we would like to have some volunteers on standby to assist staff with the demand that the outdoor rinks put on our operation,” he said.
Those interested in helping out in Essa can contact the township’s parks and recreation department.
More information on outdoor rink facilities, times of operation and conditions is available at the following links: Essa, Springwater, Oro-Medonte.
