What a night!

It was a beautiful night to skate last night. Perfect temperature, no wind, it just doesn't get better.

Lots of opportunities to skate this week

For those of you with your own skates, tomorrow night (Monday) promises to be a nice night to check out the ice at Prince of Wales rink. We'll be skating at Martin Grove at Tuesday and Thursday. Next Sunday take a trip to Sunnydale Acres rink.

Col Sam Smith skate trail open

Guest contributor Jody L went to the opening of the Skate Trail. Here's her report

"It was quite nice. I do believe I was the only one there on long blades. You're right, it is too tight for a real workout. Still worth using on Sunday morning or something, I think."

Skating starts next Tuesday December 7th

The Etobicoke Speed Skating Club will be back on the ice in a week’s time. Our season starts on Tuesday December 7^th, 2010 and finishes on Thursday February 24^th, 2011. We continue to skate at Martingrove Rink two nights per week. On Tuesday evenings the ice is ours 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 4^th, 2010 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 4^th, please arrive at the rink by 7:00 p.m. on December 7^th, 2010 so that we can all get on the ice at 7:30 p.m.

Membership for the 2010 – 2011 season will be $125.00 for adults and $60.00 for children and youth under 18. Skate rental costs an additional $25.00 for the season.

This year we have secured additional ice time at Sunnydale Acres on Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and at Prince of Wales on Monday from 8:45 to 10:00 p.m. – that gives you 4 1/4 hours of skating per week on a total of 48 days!

P.S. The Sunnydale Acres Rink is already open. Jim Charbonneau will be skating tomorrow between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and would be happy to have others join him.

Important Dates for Your Calendar

I will send out an email later in November after our planning meeting to all past members and to anyone else who has expressed an interest about the 2010-2011 season. In the meantime, here are some dates to put into your calendar:

• Saturday December 4 1030 – Registration / Try on club skates
  
• Tuesday December 7 – First night of skating
• Thursday February 24 – Last night of skating

Planning for our 2010 - 2011 Season

You wouldn’t know it by the weather but winter is on its way! That means it’s time to plan for Etobicoke speed skating for 2010 – 2011.

Let’s plan on meeting at the Lemongrass Restaurant next Wednesday November 24th at 7:30 p.m. It’s located in the Sun Life Centre at 3300 Bloor Street West, on the northeast corner of Bloor and Islington. There’s free parking in the underground lot which can be accessed from Aberfoyle Crescent.

Topics will include pricing (since our ice costs have been going up 10% for the past few years), renewing our skate fleet, growing our membership base, coaching, road trips to the Lakefield Oval and / or Portland Skate the Lake, etc. Also on the agenda: Should we lead discussions with the city about allowing skating on Grenadier Pond?

David, Jim and Michael have already said that they’ll be coming. Please let me know if you’ll be able to join us. It’s up to you whether you come for dinner, dessert or a drink – or a combination.

Jay

Fall 2010 Update

The Etobicoke Speedskating Club is a recreation level club based at Martingrove Rink. This year we have secured additional ice time at Sunnydale Rink on Sunday mornings and at Prince of Wales on Monday nights - that 4 1/2 hours per week!

Skating will get started once the rinks are open in early December. Stay tuned for the exact dates for club sign-up and for skating to get underway.

Jim Charbonneau is organizing a Club Skate Purchase Program with VH. He skated on these at the Olympic Oval in Calgary - very comfortable and fast. Special club pricing if we get 5 or 10 people to purchase... email Jim - ocharby [at] rogers [dot] com

The last piece of news is that construction of the skate trail in Colonel Sam Smith Park is finished. Some of the corners look pretty tight, so it won't be the place to set any speed records!

Last Week of Etobicoke Speed Skating season

As early as it may seem, this is our last week of skating at the Etobicoke Speed Skating Club. We’ll be skating Tuesday and Thursday, and then that’s it until December 2010.

Our end of the season fete will be on Thursday night. After we come off the ice at 8:15 pm, Ken and Eva will be treating us to pizza. If you’re able to bring any goodies, I’m sure they’ll get eaten too!

Please remember to return your club skates to the skate locker on the last evening you skate.

In other news, this was the first weekend in over a month that the ice at Grenadier Pond hasn't been skate-worthy. The ice has been truly awesome. Thanks go to Neil, Jim, Dave and Dolly for their yeoman shovelling to maintain the oval that we've been enjoying.

it seems totally ridiculous that our City doesn't capitalize on the Pond as a tourist attraction during WinterCIty Festival! Instead they post "Ice Unsafe" signs and ask the police to waste their time kicking people off the Pond when there's a foot of solid clear ice.

Now that the Olympics are on, I've been getting a number of inquiries from people interested in speed skating. I expect there'll be several new faces this week, and quite a few new skaters joining us next season.

That's all for now, the third period of the Canada-USA hockey game is starting!

Skate at Grenadier Pond tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

David Ross checked out the ice at Grenadier Pond last night - he reports that it's quite good, a 8+ out of 10, under about 3 inches of light snow.

He's suggesting that whoever's interested meets at the south end of the Pond tomorrow - Sunday Jan 10 - at 2:00 p.m. with our shovels and skates.