The rink in the tiny community of Cox’s Cove is a place where young boys and girls gather for fun and relaxation during the cold winter months.
It’s a piece of the fabric for those who call the north shore town their home.
The community bands together when the Marshall-Moores Arena is open for business because youth can enjoy being part of the minor hockey program or enjoy a leisurely skate with family and friends to break up winter.
It’s a natural ice surface at the rink in Cox’s Cove so Mother Nature plays a big role in how often the facility is open for people to enjoy.
The Cox’s Cove recreation committee was hoping to have the rink ready for general skating on Wednesday because weather conditions were ideal for the past week.
However, that plan may be in jeopardy after the thermometer took a dramatic turn to the plus side Monday and delivered sheets of heavy rain to the west coast. Temperatures reached plus 7, not exactly ideal for making ice.
Preparing the rink is a tedious job. Volunteers, with the assistance of a farmer’s tractor, help pack the snow in trucks and it’s carried inside the facility where it’s spread around to cover the concrete surface. The watering process follows and it depends on the temperature at the time. It could mean volunteers hosing it down on an hourly basis or repeating the process depending on the weather conditions.
According to Nikita Noseworthy-White of the recreation committee, there were 28 days that hockey players and general skaters were able to enjoy the natural ice surface last year.
She hopes more will enjoy it this winter and she hopes Mother Nature delivers some better news over the next couple of days so the rink can be opened by Wednesday.
She said the best-case scenario for the rink to get open is temperatures dropping to the -8 to -10 range. According to Noseworthy-White, there are other things that need to happen, as well.
The weather needs to switch back to the white stuff and wind is always welcome because it helps with the freezing process when it blows through the open doors of the facility.
Patience may be the toughest requirement for those looking to get the rink open, but that’s fine with Noseworthy-White because she knows how important the rink is to the people who not only live in the town but surrounding communities along the north shore.
“It’s great for our kids. Every day there is something at the rink,” she said.
She’s confident skaters will be out in full force on Wednesday as Mother Nature promises temperatures on the negative side for Tuesday.
