Newsletter December 2007

Vol.2, Nr.1

Rink Clubhouse hours The change room was rebuilt last year, along with the rink (thanks to Councillor Adam Giambrone), and now it’s much brighter. It’s open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Note: Clubhouse now closes at 9 p.m. every night), Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Skate rental The Women of Winter shinny group collected 20 pairs of skates and Recreation staff Dan Watson collected 20 more. So that’s the beginning of the Wallace Rink Skate Rental program. (More donations very, very welcome!) Rental is by $2 suggested donation (for skate lace and sharpening fund).

Snacks You can count on hot chocolate, pop, juice and tea during regular rink hours. After school hours on weekdays there will be mini-pizzas and cookies, until 8 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, same thing. Cost: all money from snacks goes to cover the cost of materials and to allow more programming at Wallace Rink. Prices reflect the cost of materials plus a donation toward the rink. If you don’t have enough money to pay the suggested price, pay less. If you have lots of money, pay more (it all goes to a good cause – more skates, a new tea kettle, etc. etc.) If you can’t pay at all but you’re hungry, do a swap. You can swap some work (help the staff with litter picking, snow shoveling, campfire supervision, teaching a beginner to skate) – they can use lots of help), or you can swap something useful for the rink (e.g. a hockey stick you no longer need or some kids’ books for the kids’ corner). And if you forgot your money at home but you’re hungry, pay the next time. It all works out in the end.

Campfires Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons there will be a regular campfire with hot chocolate and hot dogs, sometimes even marshmallows.

Code of Conduct No yelling inside the rink clubhouse, no swearing, drinking of alcohol, consumption of illegal drugs, sexist or racist comments, or fighting ANYWHERE in the rink area. Respectful conduct toward rink staff: the buck stops with them. Wallace Rink is family-friendly (and friendly for everyone else too!)

Rink design issues left over from the rebuilding:

1. Players’ boxes: these need to be re-opened for hockey players. Technical Services and Rink management staff are pricing how much it will cost to put doors back in.

2. Benches: The blueprints shown at the 2006 public meeting had lots of benches, but they turned out to be not funded. However there’s some wood left over that can be made into more benches. Any carpenter rink users who would be willing to help (in return for a season-long supply of free snacks!), please speak to rink staff.

3. Zamboni shelter: This was not part of the rebuilding plan. But an unsheltered zamboni freezes up a lot and doesn’t do a good job of the ice. The Women of Winter shinny hockey group are donating enough money to buy a zamboni tent that can be heated (like the ones at High Park Rink and City Hall Rink). Brian Green, City rink maintenance supervisor, is now looking into that purchase. Kevin Bowser, City-wide outdoor rink manager, says that Wallace will then be first on the list for its own Zamboni.

What’s allowed and encouraged:

1. Hanging around in the rink clubhouse is encouraged: to talk to friends and neighbours, read a story to a kid, have a snack, play some checkers, warm up after skating or tobogganing on the hill.

2. Having a campfire birthday party: rink staff can give information about having a family/friends campfire party near the rink.

3. Shoveling light snow off the ice when it’s hard to get the puck to move: but that MUST be done in collaboration with rink staff. The procedure for shoveling is posted on the clubhouse wall. Snow can’t be shoveled against the boards, because then the zamboni is blocked later, (plus pucks can hide in there and wreck the zamboni’s augur). Staff will open the south-east gate and snow can be shoveled right out of the way. (Note: anyone helping to clear the rink of snow will get free snacks later).

4. Women playing shinny hockey: anytime is fine but on Thursdays between 8.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. it’s open shinny for ONLY women.

5. Beginners learning to play shinny hockey: they get a protected time and free instruction from Dan Watson, Recreation staff, Thursdays 7pm to 8.30 pm. (There’s a campfire with good soup and Dufferin Park-oven bread on those evenings too.) To join that beginner shinny class, call Dan Watson at 416 392-0911, or email him at outdoor.shinny@gmail.com.

6. City policy requires helmets for hockey. Shinny hockey players who choose not to wear a helmet must write a note saying they refuse. They will not be required to leave the ice. They’re encouraged to give their reason(s) for not wearing a helmet for shinny hockey. These notes will be passed on to city management for consideration of the policy in future.

7. Families are encouraged to come skating. That means: no shinny hockey on the pleasure-skating side until after hours. The snacks and the children’s corner in the rink clubhouse should help with younger siblings and hungry little skaters. Strollers are allowed on the ice, also chairs for little beginners, but be careful not to clutter the ice with unattended chairs that other skaters can trip over.

Wallace Rink phone number: 416 392-0911 Rink information hotline: 416 392-0913 City of Toronto recorded rink information line (including schedules): 416-338-RINK Citywide rink information: www.cityrinks.ca Wallace web site: www.wallaceemerson.ca Web site posting: Michael Monastyrskyj Newsletter put together by: Jutta Mason for CELOS (CEntre for LOcal Research into Public Space, pronounced “see-loss,” www.celos.ca)