Ice-cold weather makes outdoor rink the local hot spot

Hockey games are only part of the rink’s activities. Families dedicate many hours there to leisurely skating.

By: Cynthia Koons
   ALLENTOWN — It’s as picturesque as a Currier & Ives lithograph. A snowy lake in the background leads to a bridge and a stately white gazebo. Across the water is a steeple emerging through the woods from a church framed by a graveyard spotted with small headstones.
   Its provinciality begs the question — how could this patch of ice host competitive, gritty, aggressive hockey games day after day?
   Somehow it does, Recreation Commissioner Ron Dunster said of the outdoor ice-skating rink located at Lakeview Park on Lakeview Drive. This is the second season the skating rink has been open, but its first season of active use due to a prolonged stretch of freezing temperatures.
   "It’s been really used this winter," Borough Councilwoman Margaret Amenante said. "Given the winter that we’ve had (with below-freezing temperatures), we’re glad to have it."
   The skate rink, filled regularly by Hope Fire Co. to maintain a flat sheet of ice 3 inches thick, provides residents with a place to take their children as long as the cold weather persists. Hockey games are only part of the rink’s activities. Families and their children also dedicate many hours there to leisurely skating.
   "It really moves your heart to see these kids have their own place," Mr. Dunster said.
   Mr. Dunster said he won’t turn a child away if they don’t have skating equipment. He said he keeps his trunk full with donated skates and a few socks to stuff them with in order to give all of the kids a chance to play on the ice.
   "Maybe a brother and sister won’t get along at home, but to see them holding hands on the ice … that’s when you know something’s happening," he said.
   The ice rink was constructed by building a fence around an existing lot at the park that is used for street hockey during the warmer months. To create the ice, Hope Fire Co. pumps in water from Mill Pond and the melted runoff is drained back into the lake in order to conserve the water.
   The park was dedicated to Steven Reid, an Allentown resident who died of cancer five years ago at the age of 21. Mr. Reid was an avid Philadelphia Flyers fan, and a team logo is hanging along the park entrance with a plaque in his name.
   "We call it the Steven Reid Park," Mr. Dunster said. "He always wanted to come over here and play hockey."
   For today’s players, Mr. Dunster said the park’s rules are all inclusive and that the kids play in mixed teams of all ages and skill levels.
   "Some of the kids come here before school," he said. "Any age — you come out, get on the ice and go."
   He said the kids maintain the rink by bringing a broom and sweeping off debris. Insurance is handled through the township and the kids’ ability to pick themselves back up when they slip.
   "This is a place where kids love to fall down," he said.
   Mr. Dunster said the park was made possible through the work of the borough, the Recreation Commission, the contractor and community members.
   Although Mr. Dunster is modest about his contributions, it’s obvious the park is in large part maintained by his watchful eyes.
   "My wife calls this my second home," he said. "She says, ‘Going to the pond again?’"