posted on February 13, 2012

Kids skate and slide on outdoor ice rink thanks to residents

Elizabeth Simcoe Park home to one of Scarborough's few outdoor ice rinks

By:MIKE ADLER

 
Published: Feb 3, 2012
Source: Inside Toronto

It's amazing what a little ice rink can do.

Separated by a snow fence from the rest of Elizabeth Simcoe Park in Guildwood, 10 children were on skates Monday afternoon racing, jumping, turning tight circles, sliding or just laying on the ice, which neighbourhood parents had created.

"It's a lot different from being inside on an indoor rink," said Scott Wardle, 9. "There's no stands, there's no boards. The ice is kind of bumpy but it's still very nice."

Ice pads on baseball diamonds and other patches of grass were once common in east Toronto. It seemed like every park had one, said Hilary Wollis of Friends of Elizabeth Simcoe Park.

"That was a big part of our childhood."

Now it's a novelty for children in Scarborough to skate outdoors as they once did, said Wollis, surveying the park rink's homemade benches and plastic milk crates guarding a corner with rough ice.

"We have lost something over the decades by not doing this." Read more >>

hosted by WordAndData.com | powered by pmwiki-2.2.80
Content last modified on February 13, 2012, at 12:39 PM EST