Kids love skating at Kindersley’s outdoor rinks
By Joan Janzen
The winter months are a time when families can enjoy skating outdoors at one of three outdoor rinks located in Kindersley. The rink at McGowan Park, located at the east side of town, is maintained by the Town of Kindersley; however, both the Kinsmen and Rosedale outdoor rinks are taken care of by a group of dedicated volunteers.
Thanks to the dedicated work of volunteers, kids and adults enjoy skating at Kindersley’s outdoor rinks. Photo by Joan Janzen
“Darcy Klarenbach, Brady Newmeyer, and myself help maintain the Kinsmen outdoor rink,” Jamie Dufault explained. Jamie has helped out for the past eight years, Darcy has volunteered for five years, and it’s been three years for Brady.
“Darcy has volunteered his Zamboni for the past four years to help make it easier for us to maintain the ice surface,” Jamie said. “Weather permitting, we are there nightly to flood the ice when we can.”
The town crew helps out by maintaining the building, cleaning the change room area, and removing snow after a snowfall. But the volunteers put in a lot of hours because “the kids love it, and it gets well used,” Jamie reasoned.
The Rosedale outdoor rink is taken care of by Quinn Watt and a group of six volunteers who help with flooding of the ice and snow removal. Quinn has been volunteering in this capacity for the past nine years.
“At the start of winter, when we get cold temperatures, we spend three to five hours a night over a week or two layering the ice,” he explained. “It’s been a challenge during the last three to four years with the mild temperatures to get the ice in for the Christmas break, but we managed to get it in.”
About four years ago, they purchased a Zamboni and built a new Zamboni garage. Having the Zamboni has helped reduce the amount of time volunteers work at the rink.
“We always ask people to shovel the snow over the boards,” she advised. Snow shovelled to the boards is much harder for volunteers to chip out before flooding the ice.
The outdoor rinks were well used during the past week of warm weather; however, when the weather cools off, the volunteers will spend three to four hours for several nights building the ice back up.
Thanks to the hard work done by these dedicated volunteers, families can enjoy skating outdoors and having fun at whatever time is convenient for them.