A Maine Fire Department Just Created An Outdoor Skating Rink In Town For The Season

Honestly, if more communities don't do this, they should. I live across the street from a pond that's frozen at this point, but we had a stretch of warm-ish weather around the holidays and there's no way that pond was fully frozen. In fact, local police didn't think so, either, because while a couple kids were playing on it around the holidays, they popped by and asked them to stop just because it was unsafe.

So, creating an outdoor skating rink on land is a MUCH better option. Plus, I'm sure parking is more practical (although, it CAN be a bummer for the kids that want to play ice hockey and have the whole ice to themselves. Same can be said for anyone who wants to go ice fishing and have most of the ice to themselves -- and, ya know, actual fish to catch. But I digress...)

A couple mornings ago, the South Berwick Fire Department started putting the finishing touches on a man-made outdoor skating rink which will be available for people to use for the rest of the frigid season. Now, South Berwick Fire tries to do this every single season, and they have for the last couple seasons, although the location has moved slightly.

The rink is located at the base of the town ski/sled hill on Agamenticus Road (obviously in South Berwick), kind of near the entrance to Powder House. But it's been shifted just a little bit since the last couple of years, it was more toward the wood and more toward the base of the sled hill.

One of my buddies (whose post I just shared above) is actually a firefighter with South Berwick Fire, and he said the reason for the move is equal parts common sense and convenience for them, too. He mentioned it's a much safer spot to not be so close to the base of the sled hill, on the off-chance that someone flying down the hill can't stop in time, and, well, Ice Skater Bowling doesn't need to become a South Berwick Olympic Sport, ya know?

He also said from a fire/rescue side, it's in a much better spot now because it provides easier access for fire trucks to navigate through should their be a need, where in years past, between the parking lot being filled up with cars from skiers or parents of sledders, it was almost impossible to get trucks through the area.

Have a blast and be safe, South Berwick! Maybe your boy will have to strap on some skates and show you his triple axel-double toe-loop figure skating combos. (And by figure skating combos, I mean the combination of both my butt cheeks getting frozen to the ice from falling so much.)