The rink with lots of heart behind it

By Heather Killen

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

It’s not prettiest, but the Lawrencetown Exhibition Youth Arena has the biggest heart behind it and that’s why it deserves home ice advantage in its bid for Hockeyville 2010.

In its day, it was the only public arena between Cornwallis and Greenwood. A group of local businessmen took out a loan in 1970 to build a place for the community to skate inside.

Every winter since, people like Todd and Martha Roberts, Keith Veinott and most of Lawrencetown have spent many hours skating, playing, or watching hockey there.

Roberts and Vienott recently nominated the Lawrencetown Exhibition Youth Arena for Hockeyville 2010. This annual contest, sponsored by Kraft Canada, CBC, the NHL and NHLPA celebrates a community’s passion, spirit, and love for hockey. This year 12 communities will be selected as finalists and the public will decide the winner.

The winning community will receive a cheque for $100,000 towards facility upgrades and an opportunity to host an NHL game in their area. The top five entries will each receive $25,000 for repairs.

Martha Roberts said they entered the contest late, with only about two weeks to submit stories and photos, but the community quickly pulled together in a rally. One story led to another, and by the deadline, Lawrencetown had 33 stories and 62 images; the second highest response in the province. For a community of just a few hundred households and a maximum population of about 660 people, 33 testimonials is an overwhelming show of support.

Roberts added that while she's excited by the reaction, she's not at all surprised. “It's not just one, or two, or three people,” she said. “It's the whole community that is involved in this rink.” Whether it's getting the ice ready in the fall, or coaching young players, or fundraising for repairs, everyone supports the arena in some way. Even people who don't directly use the rink faithfully work for it each summer by volunteering at the canteen during the Annapolis Valley Exhibition. “And when you read these stories, they're all connected,” she said. “Each one is connected to the next.”

MEETING THE NEEDS

Todd Roberts added this is how it is in the Village and surrounding area. Whatever need arises, the community rises to meet it. It could be the fire department needing a new pumper, or a trip for the local school children, neighbours work together to benefit the greater community. “Whoever needs help, gets help,” he said. “We have a good community here, everybody works together.”

His favorite story is how the community recently pulled together and bought a real Zamboni after many years of getting by with a makeshift substitute. This 1976 cast-off from a city rink was covered in mud, stuck in trees, and for sale on Kijiji.

Roberts said he looked at the ad and thought, “It's not pretty but I think most of it is there.”

So he arranged to go look at it. With a little tinkering, Roberts got it running and decided it could be saved if they could raise enough money to buy it and bring it home.

Local businessman Garnet Loomer came to the rescue donating both the money and the truck and trailer they needed to bring home Lawrencetown`s first real Zamboni. Volunteers then washed off the rig and worked tirelessly in shifts, using razor blades to scrape away years of neglect.

With it finally ready for paint, a local painter volunteered to give the Loomer Groomer a new lease on life. The shiny Zamboni was officially unveiled at the community Christmas celebration, and Martha says it stole the show from Santa. “You should have seen the kids’ faces,” she said. “Their eyes, they couldn’t believe it. Everyone wanted to sit on it.” “This goes to show the community spirit in our area,” Todd Roberts added. “If we can do this with the Zamboni, just think what we could do with $100,000.”

ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE

In an effort to remain accessible to everyone, Lawrencetown charges one of the lowest ice rental fees in the province. And while it's a small, no-frills rink that's more than a little outdated, a lot of volunteer effort goes into laying down its home ice every season.

It's one of the few remaining facilities without a cement floor, according to Keith Veinott. Every fall volunteers assist the rink manager to unroll yard after yard of brine tubing and then dump sand to prepare the arena floor. While most rinks can make ice in a week, it takes Lawrencetown about two weeks to shovel and smooth the base well enough to make the ice surface. “Volunteers prepare the surface and then make the ice,” said Veinott. “For about two weeks, anywhere from eight to 12 people will come and work in shifts to get it ready.”

There’s no question this rink needs repairs and upgrades. Various businesses and people generously drop off supplies needed for most maintenance. Still, the latest inspection forecasts major repairs are needed soon, rather than later.

Martha Roberts said that while she would love to win anything that could help upgrade it, the ultimate goal for the arena is to maintain their home ice advantage by steering clear of building a state-of-the art facility that’s impossible for the community to maintain and inaccessible for people with lower incomes. “Sometimes communities build these beautiful 'facilities' that are expensive to maintain. Then everyone is all-out fundraising for its upkeep,” she said. “We want to keep things affordable for families living here and keep this open to everyone.”

About 230 communities across Canada, including 18 from Nova Scotia, have nominated their local arena for this year's competition. In the Valley, only Lawrencetown and Berwick have entered. The Kraft Hockeyville 2010 Top 12 will be announced on March 15 at 9 p.m. on CBC. For more information visit http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeyville/about/en/