For better use and better management. The UNOFFICIAL Website of Toronto's Outdoor Skating Rinks


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You are in the Sorauren Park folder

Welcome to The Unofficial Website of Toronto's Outdoor Skating Rinks

There's nothing like outdoor skating

A project of CELOS

Natural Ice Rink: This rink is not operated by the City of Toronto

Sorauren Park Profile

Features:

A double pad, large and well-maintained

Opening and closing dates:

TBA

Comments about this rink: e-mail us at [email protected].

 

2021

Feb.5,2021

Sorauren Rink Wordpress post:'
The City of Toronto has passed the responsibility of monitoring compliance of the safe use rules onto the Hoser Crew. .....The one rule we all struggle with the most is “No Shinny”. There is nothing more enjoyable than an afternoon of Shinny with your friends and family. The Hoser Crew loves a good game too. Remember the 2019 Hoser Celebrity Shinny game? That was the most fun that we, as a collective team, have had together in the many years that we have been building this rink.

Over the last couple of days the Hoser Crew has been conversing on how to encourage the community to respect safe use of our hard work. Many of us have had to remind shinny players of the rules and have pointed to the signs outlining the City’s guidelines. Unfortunately, the shinny games continue and we now have to take some additional steps to prevent the potential for fines, rink shutdown or both.

This weekend the Hoser Crew will be redesigning the rink experience by creating snow islands in the middle of each of the two pads. These islands will create more of a skating trail to encourage physically distanced skating and discourage shinny. With the warmer weather Thursday and Friday this seems like the right time to rethink our COVID-era rink. The surface is in pretty bad shape and it will take at least 40 to 50 hrs. of labour Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get it back to where it was last weekend.

2019/2020

Feb.8,2020, from the FB page:

Rink update February 8: the west - side pad is OPEN for leisure skating. Some bumps make shinny tough, but otherwise skate-able. East-side pad closed for remediation. Sorauren Hosers working hard to lay in the ice. Watch this space for updates.

Jan.28, 2020

January 28, 2020, down to dirt. The snow shovels look forlorn

The temperature is going down to -9C tonight, and it will be cold again tomorrow night, but that's not long enough to make a rink on top of dirt. And then back up to over 0 again. So no rink this January!

Jan.24, 2020

From their Facebook page: "The Sorauren Rink is, alas, closed. After a good start we have been hit by warm weather that makes it impossible to flood and maintain ice. Please stay off the rink to protect what we have. And let's hope for below zero temperatures!"

Jan.21, 2020

Sorauren Rink status Tuesday Jan 21: skateable in parts, appropriate for small kids. Not quite ready for full-ice shinny due to protruding bare patches. #SoraurenHoser rink crew flooding daily at 9pm to build up surface.

Jan.19, 2020



After a day of digging out the snow and an afternoon flood, managed to get good night time flood with #Jarek. It’s starting to look like an ice rink!

Brilliant turn-out by Sorauren Park volunteers! Storm-hit rink cleared in 1.5 hours, then a flood by the Sorauren Hosers....Still some rough patches. Thanks all!

 
Dec.21, 2019, "Build day"


Sorauren Hosers Rink Crew volunteers

From the Facebook page: All we need now is consistent below zero temperatures.

The Sorauren natural ice rink is ready for flooding now that members of the all-volunteer Sorauren Hosers Rink Crew have erected the boards.

Build day was near flawless thanks to veterans and newcomers alike, of all ages. The rink is on the baseball diamond and once flooded and frozen will feature two interconnected ice pads.

Thanks to the volunteers including photographer Susan, Sunny Joe’s Coffee for warm drinks, and our returning Rink Sponsors Scooter Girl Toys, Snap Fitness High Park, and Chander Chaddah, Sutton Real Estate.

 

Rink diaries from earlier years:

2018

Announcement for Family Day, Feb.19, 2018

Come to Sorauren Park on Family Day, Monday February 19, for a special Farmers Market, 3 – 7 p.m. The pizza oven will be fired up, there will be free hot cider, and delicious hot chocolate will be sold from an outdoor booth.

If the weather cooperates, the natural ice rink will be open for pleasure skating and shinny. Plus, all the winter Market vendors will be open in the Fieldhouse.

The Market will also be offering a family portrait service and board games. See you at the park!


shinny hockey at the rink. Photo: Friends of Sorauren Park

clearing the snow, with helpers. Photo: Friends of Sorauren Park
 
Feb.8, 2018

On a school day at noon, the rink is empty but there are skate marks and the big rinks look firm and smooth.


opening in fence to get to east rink

big, smooth west rink

sign is friendly but firm

new pizza oven near the rink fence

This year there is no shortage of snow -- and as the rink makes obvious, who needs hockey boards when you have the snow piled this high?

 

2017

Feb.2, 2017

Feb.2, natural ice making a comeback: Sorauren Park hosers, 9.30 p.m.

Three people were hosing the ice at 9.30 p.m. They said they're determined to have a rink for Family Day, plan to have a campfire too.

 
January, 2017

the rink on Jan.14

the "rink" on Jan.24

This has not been a good year for natural ice rinks so far -- no ice over the holidays and very little after.

 

2016

January 27, 2016, 11 a.m.

Despite yesterday's warm weather (up to 5 celsius), this rink is smooth and hard this morning. However, it's still cloudy -- when the sun comes out later, there may be a different story.


looking northeast

looking northwest
 
January 23, 2016

Saturday afternoon shinny in the hood

neighbourhood engagement
 
Jan.20, 2016

At 2 pm, the rink looked great and there were schoolkids on it, skating around while their teacher watched. She said she knew it was open because her husband and son are both on the flooding-volunteers list.

This double rink has short boards and a liner, since there's no natural dip in the ground.


perfect ice

sign says they flood at 9 pm

2015

January 17 2015

At 4 pm, the two rinks had lots of people and the ice looked great.


Junior A's, upcoming

he saw the shovel there and thought he'd just use it
 
January 8 2015, Announcement from Sorauren Park Hosers:

Join the Sorauren Rink community build this Saturday Now that we finally have some decent weather, preparations are being made for the volunteer-powered Sorauren Park natural ice rink.

You can help this Saturday morning, Jan. 10, starting at 9 a.m. on the baseball diamond. The Sorauren Hosers are looking for volunteers to help install the boards (last year’s innovation) and start flooding. The Hosers make two interconnected pads, one for shinny and one for pleasure skating.

All hands are helpful, and all ages, but especially needed are folks handy with cordless drill-drivers (please bring your charged-up tools) and hammers. We install 8”-high boards to keep in the water (see photo above).

The Hosers also need volunteers to help flood. A two- or three-person crew floods every night at 9 p.m., weather permitting. Volunteers typically pick one night per week to join that evening’s crew. We match up experienced Hosers with newcomers.

Contact


Rink Diary 2013

Saturday January 5 2013

double pad rink

snow divider with opening

some grass in the corner
 
January 19, 2013

big icy puddle, January 19
 

Rink Diary 2011-2012

Sorauren Park

2011: January


rink in two sections

lively shinny game
 

2011: February

Family Day, February 21 2011

From CELOS rink visitors: At 4:50pm there were still about 40 skaters at the rink, 8 playing shinny, 12 pleasure skaters, the rest around the rink and the campfire. The campfire was cozy, in a shallow metal dish raised off the ground. The market was extended today to run 2-7pm. The ice looked great, people said that it was a puddle after the warm weather, but it re-froze and they did a lot of repair on it, and now it's in good shape again.


community floods every night

the rink got rebuilt after the big thaw


getting the hang of it

the campfire station

so many families

campfire with elegant stand

hot chocolate tent

farmers' market in the field house

Link to descriptions and "home movies" from other years: http://www.soraurenpark.com/rink.html

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Rink Diary2012-2013

Saturday January 5 2013

double pad rink

snow divider with opening

some grass in the corner
 
January 19, 2013

big icy puddle, January 19
 

Rink Diary 2011-2012

Sorauren Park

2011: January


rink in two sections

lively shinny game
 

2011: February

Family Day, February 21 2011

From CELOS rink visitors: At 4:50pm there were still about 40 skaters at the rink, 8 playing shinny, 12 pleasure skaters, the rest around the rink and the campfire. The campfire was cozy, in a shallow metal dish raised off the ground. The market was extended today to run 2-7pm. The ice looked great, people said that it was a puddle after the warm weather, but it re-froze and they did a lot of repair on it, and now it's in good shape again.


community floods every night

the rink got rebuilt after the big thaw


getting the hang of it

the campfire station

so many families

campfire with elegant stand

hot chocolate tent

farmers' market in the field house

Link to descriptions and "home movies" from other years: http://www.soraurenpark.com/rink.html

 

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Content last modified on February 10, 2021, at 07:03 PM EST