Mike Athey
BEECHGROVE Oct. 23, 2020
The Beechgrove Rink was torn down this year, but there are plans to build a new rink in its place.
The Beechgrove Recreational Association, led by Jared Hamilton and Ryan Woermke, decided to initiate the project when the condition of the rink became problematic.
“The posts and boards were rotting. The shack needed a new chimney and paint,” said Hamilton. “It just needed a new overhaul.”
The Hamilton family offered to . . .
put up the initial funds to clear out the old rink. Once the land is levelled, the new rink will be constructed just in time for the winter skating season.
Community members have come forward to assist in the project, donating time, money and resources for the construction. Locals have offered to rebuild the rink’s lighting system, fix up the old skating shack, and some donated rubber mats to protect the new wooden floors from the skate blades.
Blake Draper helped maintain the ice for many years. He hasn’t done it for a couple of years but is planning to come out of retirement this year to help with the flooding of the ice.
He said they used to keep a pump in a nearby barn and used it to pump water from an adjacent creek to make the ice each year.
“We’ve never had a way to bring water in,” said Draper. “We relied on Mother Nature to help.”
He said it was always a community rink and primarily a place where families and their children could skate.
“If the kids came and wanted to skate, hockey would take a back seat,” said Draper.
Still there were still many broomball tournaments back in the day and often the shack beside the rink was used as a place where some older community members could play cards on Wednesday nights.
The rink itself is on land owned by Gordie Mohr. His father had originally allowed the construction of the rink and Mohr allowed the tradition to continue after he inherited the farm.
“Once it was built, you didn’t want to tear that down,” Mohr said.
Mohr said this wasn’t the first time the rink had undergone renovation and can remember a rink being there dating back as far as the mid-1950s.
He said that the community is welcome to continue using the area as a rink.
