Volunteers recently put the finishing touches on a local outdoor rink that has been recognized as one of the finest in the Home Depot Backyard Rink Contest.
On March 3 Hunter Canary, his brother Tanner and friends Griffin Cunneyworth and Scott Zundstra were out playing a bit of pick-up hockey in preparation for a game against players from the Guelph Storm on March 5 on their home rink in Max Storey Park as part of the prize offered in the Home Depot contest.
And for Rick Dopheide, who lives in the Ridge Road subdivision where the rink is located, said the rink is perfect for old and young to lace up their skates and play some shinny hockey, take a leisurely skate or just learn to skate.
Dopheide has lived in the subdivision for the past 10 years and joined a group of other volunteers to establishing a rink about five years ago.
“I started a rink in my own backyard and the first year was okay because it had my son and a friend,” he said.
Eventually his rink became too small when other friends joined in to play some hockey.
Dopheide found the park, which serves as a storm water pond, perfect for a rink and found other volunteers with the same interest. They established the rink, carting water from nearby homes to make ice, and put up boards, shovelled snow and started over again when a mid-winter thaw melted the ice.
Eventually Guelph-Eramosa Township provided water to the site, allowing volunteers to flood the rink two or three times a week.
“As with everything, it’s not just the volunteers, it’s the kids, the parents,” Dopheide said of the neighbourhood involvement in the 90-by- 50-foot rink.
Dopheide learned to play hockey on the rink because although he could skate, he was a “late bloomer” when it came to Canada’s national winter sport.
Dopheide anticipated a good turnout at the March 5 game and welcomed the Home Depot recognition on behalf of everyone involved.
