Growing up, my siblings and I would sling a pair of ice skates over our shoulders and trek to the local dam to play ice hockey.
We didn’t carry water bottles or food, though Mom may have delivered some food later to sustain us. When you’re a kid, you don’t bother with calculations such as energy expenditure versus calorie intake.
It wasn’t a Facebook event listing or other form of social media that initially drew us down to the small timber dam for hockey.
We found out some way or another that a pickup game of hockey was being played down at the dam. We had never played ice hockey, but that didn’t seem to matter — we had skates, there was sturdy ice and people around our age were playing on it.
That’s what kids did in the ’70s and ’80s. “Event” referred to a concert, not a pickup game of hockey, baseball or touch football.
We all understood the principle of attraction: where two or more people gathered and seemed to be having a great time, there stood a good chance that others would join you.
These days, even water balloon fights are organized by adults.
In Reading, Mayor Eddie Moran wants to build an outdoor ice-skating rink in City Park. As he envisions it, this would be a venue where families can gather and get some exercise in the winter.
This idea seemed to come out of nowhere. The mayor, who is a constant presence at the Santander Arena during Reading Royals hockey games, was probably influenced by the success of Winter Wonderland.
Over the past couple of years, free ice-skating sessions have been offered in the Santander on specific dates from late November to early January.
The underlying concept — providing an outdoor venue for community events and new experiences for children who might not otherwise have access to skating — is well and good.
But if you build it, will they come?
For one thing, it wouldn’t be free. The city would contract with a third party to maintain the rink and manage events, for which it would charge an admission fee of approximately $10.
And hardly anyone seems to want this thing, at least in the locations it’s been proposed.
A city contractor started to build the rink outside the Third and Spruce Recreation Center in south Reading. The mayor halted work after hearing from constituents who were outraged after discovering where the concrete was being poured — along the outfield of the ballpark named after the late, great major leaguer Roberto Clemente, a Puerto Rican son and humanitarian.
During Tuesday evening’s public meeting in City Park to discuss the merits of putting the skating rink there, neighbors expressed concerns about parking problems, noise and litter from events.
Other critics said it would destroy a decent amount of green space that is, ironically, available for youth to play on.
Informal play.
Source: Berkshire mont
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