Community ice rink – preparation for 2018-2019 season

We thank those people who volunteer at our rink. We are enriched by your support and your ideas, and we are grateful for your help in running the community rink.

Our community ice rink is well utilized by community members, but the volunteerism to maintain the rink has been low for several years. New volunteers are needed so we can continue offering this wonderful recreational activity to the community.

In preparation for the upcoming season, we are currently looking for two things:

1. Maintenance team: A minimum 7 volunteers who are each committed to working one night a week between mid-December and late-February. If an individual can’t make their night on any given week it is up to them to make arrangements to find a one-time replacement. The person responsible for their night will be responsible to build and maintain the rink if weather permits. If weather does not permit – for example if it is above freezing – the volunteer has that night/day off. Of course, a volunteer can also help on any other day of the week – for example if more than a foot of snow falls in one day it is much faster to shovel with a group of 4 or more people than by yourself.

This approach works at other community rinks and it helps ensure individuals (who are volunteers) do not feel burned out. Having 7 volunteers greatly lightens the load compared to previous years, where 2 core volunteers spent 5-7 evenings a week at the rink for two straight months.

2. Supervision team: A minimum of 10 volunteers who are each committed to working one shift a week between mid-December and late-February. These volunteers will supervise the fieldhouse for 3-hour shifts (once a week or biweekly). Keeping the fieldhouse open is a requirement for the City of Ottawa to supply us with hockey boards, lights, hoses, etc.

Supervision volunteers can choose one or more 3-hour shift per week. They are responsible for:
i) unlocking the fieldhouse so community members can use the change room and washroom,
ii) being the emergency contact if there are any problems (e.g. call 911 if someone is hurt),
iii) take head counts each hour,
iv) tidying the fieldhouse, and
v) occasionally clearing snow (they are not required to clear all snow, as anyone using the rink for recreation are welcomed to do so with the shovels available)

We are required to keep the fieldhouse open for a minimum number of hours each week, so please let us know if you can volunteer on a weekly basis, or biweekly, or even as a standby if we have a last-minute cancellation.

Here is the schedule for supervisors:
– Weekdays one 3 hour shift from 6pm-9pm
– Saturday: three 3 hour shifts starting at 11am
– Sunday: three 2 hour shifts starting at 1pm

All volunteers are asked to participate in the creation of the initial ice surface, or “base ice.” The initial ice build requires temperatures below -5C (-10C is better) and regular flooding with water in order to build the base. This flooding can occur at any time of day (morning, afternoon, evening), and we will be in need of volunteers to flood the ice as soon as temperatures allow (usually the 3rd or 4th week of December) in order to get the rink up and running. Flooding involves taking a 1″ hose and spraying the entire area (both hockey rink and puddle rink) to saturation. Initially, each flooding will require 2-4 hours per flooding, and as a watertight area is created with surface ice, the time will reduce to 1-1.5 hours. Approximately 5-10 floodings are required to create base ice before it can be skated on.
As you can understand, the timing of this initial work is subject to weather conditions. We will not know exactly which date to start until a few days beforehand. This requires flexibility on behalf of the volunteer group, and as usual, the more people involved the better. We started on December 14th last season.

New volunteers must make themselves known to the GPCA by October 1st 2018 so that we have confirmation in time to sign the rink agreement with the City of Ottawa.
Community members interested in volunteering are asked to contact Adam Norman by email (glabarparkca@gmail.com) or call/text 613-552-5615.

If insufficient volunteers are available, there will be no community rink in 2018-2019.