LINCOLN, Maine — If Mother Nature permits, the town is poised to create two public ice-skating rinks by the middle of next week, officials said Tuesday.
Lincoln firefighters might start spraying water for a rink at Prince Thomas Park and a new rink at Cobb Field, near the campus of Mattanawcook Junior High School of Lincoln, as early as Thursday, if the expected snowstorm on Wednesday doesn’t postpone the effort.
“We are looking to get more people, more adults, involved in skating,” said Ron Weatherbee, director of cemetery, parks and recreation. “We have had a number of adults ask about it.”
All that’s needed are two or three days of temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, community events coordinator Shelly Crosby said.
Residents would not have the regulation hockey-sized rink at Prince Thomas Park but for a North Carolina family — whose members described themselves as “rabid hockey fans” — having answered a challenge last year from then-Town Manager Glenn Aho by donating $425 for the rink. Aho contributed the other $25.
The family, which has several relatives in Lincoln and last visited about five years ago, asked that their names be withheld.
That rink, Weatherbee said, is good, but small. Adding a larger rink at the junior high school therefore makes sense.
Town officials encourage residents to skate on town rinks rather than risk using the town’s 13 ponds and lakes, which are nowhere near as safe. Insurance liabilities prevent town officials from clearing ponds and lakes for skating, and any efforts to clear those water bodies might prove hazardous to snowmobilers, Town Manager Lisa Goodwin said.
Residents can call 794-6548 or check the town’s Web site, lincolnmaine.org, for an announcement on the rinks’ opening.
nsambides@bangordailynews.net
794-82150
Lincoln to expand
ice-skating offerings
BY NICK SAMBIDES JR.
OF THE NEWS STAFF
LINCOLN — If Mother Nature permits, the town is poised to create two public ice-skating rinks by the middle of next week, officials said Tuesday.
Lincoln firefighters might start spraying water for a rink at Prince Thomas Park and a new rink at Cobb Field, near the campus of Mattanawcook Junior High School of Lincoln, as early as Thursday, if the expected snowstorm on Wednesday doesn’t postpone the effort.
“We are looking to get more people, more adults, involved in skating,” said Ron Weatherbee, director of cemetery, parks and recreation. “We have had a number of adults ask about it.”
All that’s needed are two or three days of temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, community events coordinator Shelly Crosby said.
Residents would not have the regulation hockey-sized rink at Prince Thomas Park but for a North Carolina family — whose members described themselves as “rabid hockey fans” — having answered a challenge last year from then-Town Manager Glenn Aho by donating $425 for the rink. Aho contributed the other $25.
The family, which has several relatives in Lincoln and last visited about five years ago, asked that their names be withheld.
That rink, Weatherbee said, is good, but small. Adding a larger rink at the junior high school therefore makes sense.
Town officials encourage residents to skate on town rinks rather than risk using the town’s 13 ponds and lakes, which are nowhere near as safe. Insurance liabilities prevent town officials from clearing ponds and lakes for skating, and any efforts to clear those water bodies might prove hazardous to snowmobilers, Town Manager Lisa Goodwin said.
Residents can call 794-6548 or check the town’s Web site, lincolnmaine.org, for an announcement on the rinks’ opening.
