CALEB NICKERSON
NORWAY BAY March 8, 2019
With one season nearly under her belt, the new ice technician at the Norway Bay outdoor rink is proud of all the work she and her team of volunteers have put in over the past few months.
Tracey Moore said she put her name forward after she heard that no one was taking on the position, even though she had no experience maintaining a rink.
“I got the keys on Dec. 27 and we were open on the 29th,” she said. “I have a lot of good helpers.”
She said many of the youngsters and families that use the ice help out in some way, though they required a little instruction.
“I had to give them the conversation that the hockey puck and the snow blower are not good friends,” she said with a laugh. “They thought it would be funny, like the t-shirts at the games. I said, ‘No, that’s not how it works.’”
Every day, Moore said she or another volunteer scrape the surface with a shovel, heaving the snow over the boards. Sometimes a friend helps her with his four-wheeler.
“It’s an hour and a half to scrape and clean it up and if you have the weather to flood, you flood,” she explained. “That’s about three hours, three and a half.”
On Friday afternoon, a gaggle of children were chasing a puck around at the rink, soaking up the last of their March break holidays.
Moore added that she’s been posting the surface conditions online in an effort to boost usage, which she said has increased, as well as getting feedback from users.
“I’m, I think, the first rink attendant to use social media,” she said. “We’ve been promoting it quite a bit.”
