Skate the 2008-09 season

Our season will start on Tuesday December 9th, 2008 and finish on Thursday February 26th, 2009. We continue to skate at Martingrove Rink on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on Thursday evenings from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

I will be at the rink Saturday December 6th, 2008 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to receive memberships and to hand out rental skates. Those skaters who were fitted last year are advised to be there early, as we cannot guarantee to hold skates after the Club opens.

If you are unable to register on December 6th, I will be at the rink at 6:45 p.m. on December 9th, 2008. Please be prompt so that we can all get on the ice at 7:30 p.m. As an added incentive for you to skate on the 9th, Ken Caven will be sharpening skates.

Looking forward to seeing you on the ice,

Jay

Support Etobicoke's "long track" outdoor ice path

Jody L and I attended the open house on the development of a family outdoor ice skating trail at Samuel Smith Park last Thursday. The trail will be located beside the Power House building on the Humber College Lakeshore Campus. Unfortunately I can't upload the conceptual drawing of the trail map, but you can find it here on the Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront website. This is one of the groups opposed to the trail, by the way, so if you read their web page, you'll hear their point of view.

There were many vocal opponents at the open house, with only a few parents and one speed skater (yours truly) speaking out in favour. If you would like to make your voice heard, additional comments will be included in the summary report by Lura Consulting if they are received by tomorrow - June 12th. The comment forms can be found on the Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront website, or if you send me an email.

The CCFEW argument that there's already lots of skating opportunities in the area misses the point; this will be a 250 metre trail rather than a hockey rink. It would provide a place for families to skate during the day and evening without having to go around in circles, and it'd be a great venue for speed skaters during off-peak hours just like how Brampton speed skaters use Gage Park to practice long track. And like Gage Park, it will draw people from all over the GTA.

Etobicoke "long track" outdoor ice!

This is short notice but spread it around!

This afternoon there is an open house on the development of a family outdoor ice skating trail development at Samuel Smith Park.

Join Councillor Mark Grimes and members of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation to review and discuss the preliminary plans for development of the family outdoor ice skating trail

June 5:
3:30-5:30 youth after school drop in
6:00-7:00 view design
7:00-9:00 community and family presentation and discussion group

Ken Cox community centre (located in Father John Redmond Catholic High School, which is just south of Lakeshore and Kipling Av)
28 Col. Sam Smith Park Dr

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End of a great season

Last night was our final night of speed skating for this season. It seems quite silly to finish skating on the coldest night we've had this year, but that's just the way it is. I called the City several weeks ago to ask if they could extend it, to no avail.

MasterCard donated the money to allow the City to open the rinks in December. Since Mayor Miller says he slayed the budget problems at City Hall, I think we should lobby MasterCard to support keeping the outdoor rinks open through the kid's March school break in 2009!

At any rate, the ice was hard and fast last night. Ken gave us an inspiring lesson on how to get more speed while sprinting - get low, so we're below the boards. We'll have to get Ken to demonstrate this again for us at the beginning of next season!

After we came off the ice, the hot cider and treats helped everyone to warm up. Eva and Neil took a few photos of the group, which I will post. A few of us went out for an apres of spicy Korean food at Cho Dang Soon Tofu, which was perfect on such a cold night.

See you in December!

End of season soirée

The last night of skating is this Thursday, February 28th. After we come off the ice, we are going to celebrate another great season. Ken and Eva have graciously offered to provide pizza. Others are bringing treats and cider.

All are welcome to join us on the ice and afterwards - including our Tuesday-only members. For the Tuesday folks, we get on the ice at 7:15 on Thursday, fifteen minutes earlier than you’re used to.

If you have club rental skates at home, please return them either tonight or on Thursday. Thanks!

Jay and Taisa

Lakefield Long Track Oval is Open!

Neil told me that the long track oval is now open in Lakefield. Is anyone interested in a road trip this weekend to check it out?

Let me know, and I'll put you in touch with him.

Grenadier Pond update

David Ross skated Grenadier Pond last Thursday. Here's his report:

"I was out last night - the north end was very good, not quite perfect, the south end not so good. I put my skates on where we were last time and went north - a great skate. I took our dog, and he chased a fox across the ice at the end of our skate!"

Neil Connelly joined David on Saturday morning. Here's how Neil described it:

"David and I were there (Grenadier Pond) today, and it was a beautiful morning. The ice was not quite as good as last time, but worth skating. I saw two foxes enjoying the sunny weather."

Speed Skating Finishes Feb 28th

Many of you have been asking me how long our speed skating season will last. The last night of skating will be next Thursday, February 28th.

If you have club rental skates at home, please return them by next Thursday. Thanks!

Children's Fitness Tax Credit

Please see the link below for information on this Tax Credit.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/fitness/

If you have children who qualify (born in 1992 or more recently) & wish to make a claim please let me know.

Maximum claim is $500 per child under 16 per year. The membership fees will qualify for the tax credit. CCRA has advised me that the equipment rental fee does not qualify for the credit, since it is a separate cost item.

Grenadier Pond Photos

Neil has passed along the photos he took on Jan 26th at Grenadier Pond. Here's a couple:

Neil, Taisa and David

Jay and David chasing Jody around the west corner of our oval

Want to see all of the photos? Click here.

Skating tonight

It's a shame only six people skated on Tuesday night, since it turned out to be a good evening. The drizzle stopped before we got on the ice, and the rink was in good shape.

Ken and Eva stopped by on Tuesday. Ken very kindly sharpened skates for Taisa, Sean and me. Eva found photos of some of our long-time members that she passed along.

Tonight should be a good night for skating, hope to see you there!

Skating on Grenadier Pond

A group of our members and friends skated Sunday afternoon at Grenadier Pond. It was a gorgeous afternoon to be out!

I arrived after the oval had already been cleared. I was doing the Dad's taxi thing; Taisa works as a rink attendant on Sunday afternoons at Martingrove Rink. Thank you to those who did the shoveling.

Annemieke said that she and her husband Gary have tomorrow off work and may slip out to skate. If you're interested in joining her, let me know and I can put you in touch to find out what time they're planning to go.

I won't be able to make it to Grenadier for the next few days, so I'll see you at Martingrove Tuesday night.

Another chance to speed skate on Grenadier Pond

Six of us – David, Dolly, Jody, Neil, Taisa and I – skated Grenadier Pond this morning. It took 30 minutes to shovel a 350 metre oval. The ice was fine, so we were able to fly! Neil will be sending me some photos to post here.

We enjoyed it so much that we want to do it again. The plan is to meet up tomorrow afternoon (Sunday Jan 27) at 2:00 p.m. at the southwest corner of the Pond. Bring a shovel, in case we need clear away the bit of snow that the weatherman has forecasted.

Street parking is available on Ellis Gardens, one block north of The Queensway running west off Ellis Avenue. Take the Lakeshore eastbound, turn left at Ellis Avenue. Ellis Gardens is the first street left after you go through the light at The Queensway.

Join us on Grenadier Pond this Saturday

A group of us are going skating on Grenadier Pond on Saturday morning. David Ross checked out the Pond yesterday, and reports that the ice is very good under about 5 cm. of light snow.

We're meeting at 8:00 at the southwest corner of the Pond. Bring a shovel, it shouldn't take us long to clear an oval given that the snow is light.

Street parking is available on Ellis Gardens, one block north of The Queensway running west off Ellis Avenue. Take the Lakeshore eastbound, turn left at Ellis Avenue. Ellis Gardens is the first street left after you go through the light at The Queensway.

This and that

The ice was great on Tuesday night. Everyone was saying it was a wonderful night to skate; it was a pleasure to be outside after the deep freeze on Sunday!

It should be a good night again tonight, as long as everyone dresses for the -11 temperature.

Speaking of dressing warmly, the fifth anniversary of the International Big Rideau Lake Speed Skating Marathon will be held this Saturday in Portland, Ontario.

Back on the ice last night

Twelve of us skated last night. It was mostly a free skate, with one round of asteroids at the end. Taisa spent some time coaching some of our new members, who are all showing lots of improvement.

Several people asked me how we're doing this season on our membership. So far this season, 25 people have joined the Club, of whom 15 are skating one night and 10 are skating both nights. We need a few more members to break-even, but I think we should build up our reserves so that we can continue to accommodate our growing membership (i.e., buy skates if we have to).

Eva has very kindly agreed to call a few people who skated with us last year who haven't come out yet. I hope they're able to join us again this year.

Speed skating cancelled today - Thursday should be fine

With today's weather forecast, tonight's skating is cancelled, Tuesday Jan 8th. It wouldn’t be much fun in the rain or with that much water on the ice. (Sorry Christine, I know you’d skate in spite of these conditions!)

If any of you who are Tuesday only members would like to skate this Thursday, Jan 10th instead, please join us then. Let's hope our rink attendants can restore the ice by then! Our permit is from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. so plan on showing up a few minutes early so we can skate the full hour.

Last Thursday, we had a special guest at our practice. Adam started short track last year with Brampton Speed Skating. He chose to attend University of Calgary so that he could skate on the long track at the Olympic Oval. He showed us his brand spanking new Viking clap skates, and took a few laps on them. He was pretty fast in spite of the short track at Martingrove.

Incidentially, I enjoyed reading about Andrew Love's tour of the Viking factory, where Adam's skates were made. Check it out!