Winter fun on ice
More than 10,000 have used rink so far this season
The Jabaay family will be the first to say ice skating is much different in their hometown of Tampa, Florida, than it is in Crown Point.
To ice skate in Tampa, you can expect to sweat without really doing anything, mom Toni Jabaay said as she, husband Jim and mother-in-law Patti Jabaay rounded up their three boys after a day of fun at Bull Dog Skate. The boys — Cohen, 11; Griffin, 9; and Jackson, 4 — were sweating for sure, but only because they’d been racing around the ice for a couple hours.
The two older boys were into the Zamboni making the ice smoother for their antics; Jackson’s likes were a little simpler.
“I like the thing you hold onto,” the little boy shouted happily.
Now in its third year, the 202122 season is shaping up to be the first full season not marred by the pandemic, said Adam Graper, the city’s Media Relations and Technology Director. At least 100 people floated along the ice Wednesday afternoon, the inch or two of snow that fell Tuesday serving as a backdrop. Workers started assembling the rink’s outer fencing after the last October event held at Bull Dog Park, then started pumping glycol into the rink to start freezing it over, Graper said. After seven to 10 layers of mist are down, workers seal the surface and paint hockey lines, which takes about six more days to dry, he said. By the day after Thanksgiving, they were ready to go.
There are all manner of activities to enjoy at the rink, Graper said — aside from open skate, there are lessons starting the first week of January, and collegiate teams have played the hockey-sized rink this year as well. There’s even ice-skating time devoted to senior residents once a month and time for differently abled folks to spend some time out there, too.
“During that time, we turn down the music and provide a calmer time,” he said.
The rink holds up well until the weather gets around 55 degrees,
Graper said. Even worse than warm, though, is wind, and the rink had to shut down for a few days during December’s warm stretch to start the ice process again.
But that hasn’t stopped anyone — the city’s counted 10,000-plus people have taken to the ice since it opened so far.
“People are really enjoying themselves because they can be outside, either skating or hanging out by the fire pits,” Graper said. “They can be together more safely.”
And there’s always more ways to get people to come to the city — he and Communications Manager Mary Freda are always putting their heads together to make it happen. But the ice rink has been a great success.
Just ask the Currans of Crown Point. Archer Curran, 4, kept dragging mom Megan out on the ice for more while sisters Maddy and Stella watched with their dad on the sidelines.
“It’s the memory-making for me,” Megan Curran said.
Hours to skate and other information at Bull Dog Ice Rink can be found at crownpoint.in.gov/414/Ice-Skating. Prices to skate are $5 admission per person (free for residents 62 and up) and $3 skate rental; skate assists are free and first-come, firstserve.