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You are on the [January 2010] page of folder [Wallace Emerson Rink]
For the cover page of this folder go to the < February 2010 | | Diary 2009 - 2010 >
Rink Diary January 2010
Friday January 1, 2010
Ice maintenance: Manual scrape at 10 a.m., zamboni at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Then a manual scrape by skaters at at 3:30pm, again at 5 pm.
manual scrape at 10 a.m.
3pm: too much snow to move the puck!
Despite all the snow, there was a lively, sociable scene, also inside the clubhouse -- people chatting, drinking hot chocolate, playing chess. Some parents said they always bring their families to Wallace Rink now, because Dufferin Rink is just too crowded. The only problem, they said, is that then "you don't see anybody," i.e. you don't run into as many of your neighbours.
But eventually the neighbours will go up to Wallace too...
Saturday January 2 2010
Ice maintenance: news came at 9 a.m. that one zamboni is broken down. 9.30 two players cleared half the shinny hockey side; 11am zamboni scrape of both rinks; 3:30 manual scrape of shinny hockey side; 4:30 zamboni scrape of shinny hockey side only.
A very cold day. Numbers at 4 pm: 16 shinny hockey (no helmets), 6 pleasure skaters. 5 pm: 15 shinny hockey (2 helmets), 3 pleasure-skaters, 3 inside.
Sunday January 3 2010
A snowy day until late afternoon.
Ice maintenance: 12:45 zamboni scrape, 2 pm manual scrape, 4.30 pm manual scrape, 5.30 pm manual scrape, 7 pm zamboni scrape (with five zamboni drivers/forepersons!).
Numbers at 5.30: 8 shinny hockey, no helmets, 10 pleasure-skaters.
Monday Jan.4 2010
Ice maintenance: pre10am, 4pm manual scrape of the pleasure-skating side plus half of the shinny hockey side (players decided they'd rather play on half the ice than scrape the rest) 6pm scrape and flood both sides.
Numbers at 7:15pm (all ages shinny time): 18 shinny hockey (6 helmets), 14 pleasure skaters, no one inside (even on a cold night!)
Tuesday January 5, 2010
Ice maintenance: lots of snow, first ice maintenance at 12 noon. 2:30pm manual scrape of hockey pad, 4pm-5:30pm manual scrape of pleasure pad, then hockey pad, 6:05pm flying squad scrape both pads.
In other words, after an hour and a half of hard work, the flying squad arrived, without notification ahead of time. That has to change.
E-mail to cityrinks from S.D., January 5 2010
The ice conditions at Wallace suck. Especially for pleasure skaters who always seem to get the chewed up end of day ice. I am totally aware of the lack of a melter on site but on January 2and it seemed to me that the Zamboni crew got on and off the ice in under 20 minutes which is just not possible if one is going to provide a good (not great ice surface). I didn’t mind that it happened in the middle of the pleasure skate but it was hardly worth the delay if they are not going to do a good job. I don’t know why there is no schedule that they can keep; I have seen at other rinks that the Zamboni always comes out at a scheduled time.
Wednesday January 6 2010
Ice maintenance: 11am scrape, 1:30 scrape only hockey side, 8pm scrape and flood both (long maintenance- filled twice)
Thursday January 7 2010
Ice maintenance: before 9am?? 1:30pm scrape pleasure side, scrape and flood hockey side: 7.30pm scrape and flood
Numbers: 2pm 4 pleasure-skaters, 4 shinny hockey players, no helmet.
3:30 2 pleasure-skaters, 7 shinny hockey, one helmet
5:30 16 pleasure-skaters, 12 shinny hockey, 8 with helmets
6:30 9 pleasure skaters, 8 shinny hockey 2 helmets
9pm 26 pleasure skaters, 24 shinny hockey, 4 with helmets
Friday January 8 2010
Ice maintenance: 12:30pm scrape, then the zamboni sat there for a time, then it was picked up to be taken away; 6:45pm scrape and flood.
Number samples 8:45pm: 16 shinny hockey players, two helmets. 1 inside. No pleasure-skaters.
Saturday January 9 2010
We're trying an early-morning game: "Find the zamboni flying crew." They start their shift at 6 a.m., first going to the service yard at Boothe Avenue, across town, to park and pick up the machine. Our "find-the-zamboni" game started out in the dark, with a sickle moon still high in the sky, at 7.07. At Wallace Rink - no ice resurfacing yet. 7.13 at Campbell Rink: no ice resurfacing yet. 7.22 at Christie Rink: no ice resurfacing yet. 7.32 at Trinity Rink - no ice resurfacing yet. 7.39: zamboni driver on site at Dufferin Rink (he's not part of the flying crew). Clear, cold sky (minus 15), getting lighter. 7.39 at Wallace Rink: no ice resurfacing yet. 7.49 at Campbell Rink: no ice resurfacing yet. 7.58 at Christie Rink: no ice resurfacing yet. A beautiful sunrise -- but no zamboni flying crew, anywhere. They must be somewhere else, but where?
There was a meeting at Wallace Rink in the morning, of four of the organizers of winter events at Dufferin and Wallace Rinks. They're not very happy. One of them wrote to her group afterwards:
The annual Icycles (Bikes on Ice), the Gas Station Islanders' Family Skate, The Women of Winter Shinny Tournament, the GTHLA New Year’s Eve skating party, etc., are the best of volunteer community and parks collaboration but now the City is insisting on treating these as outside events and requiring permits which will make many, if not all, prohibitive in cost and time.
Two of the organizers of the Family Skate/band concert/UNESCO fundraiser came to skate and play shinny hockey. They've been asked to fill out all the paperwork so that it becomes clearer to the City management why their activities can't fit into the standard "special-event" mold, with insurance and permit fees and commercial sponsorship and all the usual special-event razmatazz. There does seem to be some chance that this won't have to develop into a stand-off -- that the managers down at city hall will be able to "get it."
meeting over - Don Kerr and his son at Wallace Rink
E-mail to Brenda Patterson, the general manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation, from Don Kerr and Kevin Lacroix of the "Gas Station Islanders" January 8 2010
The Gas Station Islanders are a group of community members who wish to make use of a public park in an organized manner one afternoon of the year.
We are a recreational hockey team who simply want to pool our skills... bake cookies, play music, teach kids to skate... and bring our families, friends, neighbours outside to be warmed on a cold winter day. Over the last two years, we have had nothing but positive response from the staff and the neighbourhood, and we've raised over $2,000 for charity. This year we plan to donate all proceeds to UNICEF.
OUR EFFORTS HAVE BEEN ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE RINK. WE DO NOT DEPRIVE ANYONE OF ITS USE DURING THE EVENT. IN FACT, IN THE PAST, IT HAS BEEN CLEAR THAT WE BRING MORE PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE AREA TO THE PARK THAN WOULD OTHERWISE GO ON ANY GIVEN DAY. IN THIS RESPECT, IT IS A PARK/RINK EVENT THAT HAPPENS WITH OUR SUPPORT... NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
Please let us continue this friendly use of our local park without adding fees or paperwork to an otherwise joyful endeavour.
Ice maintenance: 9:30am, s.f, 5:30 s./f
Sunday January 10 2010
Monday January 11 2010
Ice maintenance: pre-10am. At 5pm there were many complaints by skaters, the ice was very bad. Staff said they were told that the flying squad was at Christie rink and would then do Campbell, then Wallace. They did Campbell at 5.45 pm but didn't come to Wallace. They drove past Wallace at 7.20, and didn't return until 7.55pm. Then they scraped the hockey pad 4 times, pleasure pad once. There was a permit at 8.30 -- the regular program didn't count enough to do the ice. This is SO frustrating.
Tuesday January 12 2010
Pre-10am s/f - ice looked great except for two large puddles with thin coating of ice near hockey nets. 3:15pm s/f, 7pm s/f. Ice fine in the evening.
Wednesday January 13, 2010
Ice maintenance:10 am s/f, 1:30 pm s/f (possible at 4:30pm) 8pm s/f
Number sample at 6pm 18 shinny, (8 with helmets), 2 pleasure-skaters , 5 inside
Thursday January 14, 2010
Ice maintenance: pre 10am, 12:50pm s/f, 7:45pm s/f
Friday January 15, 2010
Ice maintenance: 12:15 pm scrape and flood, 5.50 just scrape
Saturday January 16, 2010
The rink was busy and friendly as usual. A little girl was doing figures in between the other skaters, with her dad watching (and lots of other people enjoying her skating too). It turns out she got her start at the outdoor rink skating lessons with rec staff Mayssan Shuja Uddin. Ice maintenance: 9am scrape, 11:45am long scrape, 5:40pm s/f
Number sample 2 pm: 13 shinny hockey players (4 with helmets), 18 pleasure-skaters (5 with helmets), 9 inside.
Sunday January 17, 2010
Ice maintenance: 12 noon s/f, 5.45pm scrape only, although a flood was requested by rink users -- apparently the zamboni drivers said it was too warm to do the evening flood (temp: 1 celsius). They took a mere 13 minutes total to scrape the whole rink (both pads).
Monday January 18 2010
Ice maintenance: pre 10am s/f, then nothing until 8 pm right before the permit, at which point there was a particularly thorough resurfacing of the hockey pad.
Number sample 7 pm: 15 shinny players (2 with helmets), 23 pleasure-skaters (4 with helmets), 7 inside.
Tuesday January 19, 2010
Ice maintenance: pre10am, 1:30pm zamboni on site, 1:45pm scrape both, 4pm, zamboni still on site, 6:30pm scrape both pads, 7:30pm manual scrape pleasure pad (because of snow flurry)
Numbers sample, 2:30pm 2 shinny hockey (no helmets), 3 pleasure-skaters (no helmets), 1 inside.
Wednesday January 20, 2010
Ice maintenance: 9 s.f , 12:45 scrape, 8.45 s.f long maintenance
Numbers samples 9:15 am: (All ages shinny hockey time), no shinny, 4 pleasure-skaters, no one inside.
2pm 2 shinny players, 47 pleasure-skaters, 5 inside.
6:30pm (18 years and over shinny hockey time) 18 shinny players (4 youth and 5 adults in helmet), 7 pleasure-skaters, no one inside.
Thursday January 21, 2010
Ice maintenance: no maintenance in a.m., s/f at 1pm and again at 7.15 pm.
Numbers samples 3pm: (all ages shinny time) 4 shinny hockey players ( no helmet), no pleasure-skaters, no one inside
5pm (12 and under shinny time) 9 shinny players (3 with helmets), 30 pleasure-skarers (6 with helmets), 8 inside
8pm (all ages shinny time) 15 shinny players (no helmets), 14 pleasure-skaters, 7 inside
Friday January 22, 2010
Ice maintenance: 9ams/f, 1:45pm scrape - written in log book "driver was being assessed by another city staff" while he did the scrape 6:15pm scrape both (No flood)
Saturday January 23, 2010
Ice maintenance: 9:40am-10:10am s/f both (lessons start at 10am-12pm on hockey pad), 6:40pm s/f
Numbers sample 2pm 16 shinny hockey (6 with helmets), 12 pleasure-skaters (0 helmets), 4 inside.
Sunday January 24, 2010
Ice maintenance: 11:45am scrape only, 3pm "still steady flow, no more maintenance"
Monday January 25, 2010
Ice maintenance: 6:50pm plough on hockey pad (pushing around water/ice), 4 guys there. 7pm-8pm zamboni on hockey pad, then pleasure skating pad.
Numbers sample 8pm:' 3 shinny hockey ( 1 with )helmet), 2 pleasure-skaters. People pretty well gave up trying to skate today.
Tuesday January 26 2010
E-mail to Chris Gallop, assistant to Councillor Adam Giambrone, from Jutta Mason:
to follow up on our phone conversation this afternoon -- from Jan 1 to Jan 25, Wallace Rink had the following pattern of irregularly-timed ice maintenance:
2 days with one visit
14 days with 2 visits
7 days with 3 visits
2 days with 4 visits.
As a double pad rink, it ought to have a minimum of 4 visits a day. What is preventing the city from putting a rented zamboni on-site beginning this week and parking it at Boothe Ave during the night-times?
Ice maintenance: not by 10am, 11:50am zamboni on site, no maintenance, 1pm operator in truck on site, 1:20pm scrape both, zamboni still on site, 3:45pm flying squad crew scrape hockey pad quickly - they notified rec staff before beginning scrape, 6:30-7pm s/f both pads, took zamboni away with them at 7 pm
Wednesday January 27, 2010
Ice maintenance: 9am - zamboni on site. unsure if scrape was done pre 9am (there is blowing snow so its hard to tell), 12:45 - zamboni exchanged for older model, 1.15 scrape done both sides, 3:40 two drivers on site to do a scrape (took turns), 5:50 scrape, 7.30 four drivers on-site, some deep gouges in the ice after scrape. Zamboni taken off-suite at 7.55.
Thursday January 28, 2010
Ice maintenance:Doesn't seem like any early scrape - snow build up on ice, 11:30 pleasure skate side scrape and hockey side scrape 1:20 scrape both sides - snow storm in between maintenance ice is snowy, 3pm ice is still snowy, 7:30 slow flood of hockey side, pleasure side scrape
Friday January 29, 2010
Ice maintenance: pre 9am scrape, 1pm scrape, 6pm scrape, zamboni on site till 3pm
Saturday January 30, 2010
Ice maintenance: pre 9am flood and scrape we think, 11.45am scrape, 5:30pm scrape both
Numbers sample, 2:20pm: Shinny hockey 22 (2 helmets); pleasure-skating 27, 25 inside, 27 more outside around the campfire and watching the band.
Sunday January 31, 2010
Ice maintenance: no maintenance in am., 11.45 pm scrape only hockey side because of jam in machine, Zamboni left on site, 3pm Zamboni removed, 6.15 scrape and flood
Content last modified on February 02, 2010, at 08:41 PM EST