FREE PUBLIC SKATING OFFERED
Outdoor rink opens for the season
A light rain did nothing to dampen the ent husiasm of skaters as they took their first strides around the ice rink at Charles Clark Square Saturday.
Free public skating was offered for the first time this season at the downtown rink.
“My daughter and I came last night but they said the ice was too soft,” said Mike Kemeny who stood along the boards watching Isabella and her friends laugh and giggle as they glided across the rink.
Kemeny had been on the ice with them but switched back to street shoes after two hours.
“And they’re still out there,” he said. “My daughter just loves it. We’ve been coming here for five years now.”
A Grade 4 student at Malden Central public school in Amherstburg, Isabella simply loves the idea of skating outside instead of inside at an arena.
“We like to come here at night when the lights are on,” she said.
Isabella, 10, was enjoying the afternoon skate with her friends Mawaheb Hassan and Ray Wah Say.
Twenty-four-year-old Nick Varga grabbed his skates as soon as he saw a post about the rink opening on social media.
“I’ve been waiting for it to open up,” he said. “I like to come here at least once a week.”
Varga played hockey as a kid and got back on the ice last year after treating himself to a new pair of skates. Living downtown, he can easily walk to the square.
Friends Wael Alfadel and Eizeddin Alzoubi were eager to try their hand at a Canadian tradition.
Both immigrated to Canada from Syria three years ago. Alfadel tried ice skating at the square two years ago but since then the closest he’s got is on roller blades.
“I think it’s the same,” he said. “I don’t really remember. “
Alzoubi was lacing up skates for the first time in his life.
“I just want to try it,” he said. “But I don’t want to fall.”
Weather permitting, the rink is open Monday to Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
My daughter just loves it. We’ve been coming here for five years now.