Oyen community rallies to build outdoor rink
By Diana Walker
Necessity is the mother of invention, although an outdoor skating rink is not new for Oyen. When I was a kid (a long time ago), Oyen had an outdoor skating rink located where the town shop now stands. With COVID, the closure of the Oyen & District Memorial Arena, mental health issues, an economic crisis, and the feeling of losing control, the Oyen community rallied.
“The idea of the outdoor skating rink started with a conversation on how to get the South Alberta Hockey Academy back on the ice in a safe and law-abiding way,” said Jason Duchscherer, principal of Oyen Public School. “Now, the whole community will be able to enjoy the ice, including figure skaters and minor hockey players.”
Discussion started on Monday, January 18; the crew meet on Friday, January 22, to put the rink together.
Spearheaded by the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy and Prairie Rose School Division, the day-long project began at 10:00 a.m. It continued well into the night past 11:00, ending with the flooding of the chosen site, behind South Central High School on Prairie Rose property.
Prairie Rose School Division paid for the supplies, including lumber, rebar and the plastic liner.
UFA Farm Supply went to Hanna on short notice to get last-minute supplies and donated lumber for the rink.
Many community people provided labour, including Oyen Minor Hockey parents organized by president Trent Lyster and the Town of Oyen crew consisting of Lee Tucker, Kurtis McBain, Danny McLaughlin and Lloyd Fraser.
Business people and individuals brought an assortment of equipment and tools:
Taylor Peers - skid steer;
Darren Opheim - welding truck, skid steer and tools (Tri-O Welding);
Darcy Volk - skid steer (Oyen Backhoe Services);
Mark Strutt - skid steer, donated sucker rod (Sparkman Welding);
Blake Hertz - 4-wheel-drive tractor to help move snow (Intimidator Trucking);
Aaron Thornton - welding truck and donated hardware (Ollie’s Electrical Services);
Travis Wilson - truck, trailer and tools (TBT Construction);
Trent Lyster - tools;
Josh Vold, Travis Smigelski, Dylan Dumanowski, Mike Yake, Jay Scarff, Vaughn Strutt, Brayden Robertson and Wyatt Girletz.
Randy Lee and Jackie Campbell donated the windbreak fence and some lumber for the boards. Mark Strutt and Darren Opheim constructed the end boards and moved them into place.
Erin Logan/TD Small Business Banking provided lunch, UFA Petroleum, Christie Caskey delivered coffees, and Jason Duchscherer brought pizza for supper.
When the groundwork was laid, the Oyen Volunteer Fire department came with the fire truck and flooded the area several times.
The Terry Jr Westerlund family donated mats in front of the skating rink to allow people to put on their skates.
The Youngstown Community Association lent their scrapers and small barrel flooding machine. This allows the volunteers the chance to get on some hot floods currently put on by OPS staff.
“I think it’s amazing to see what the community can accomplish when we come together,” said Steve Kuhn, Corporate Services Manager for the Town of Oyen. “Things have been tough for everyone lately, so it’s nice to give the kids a chance to get back out and skating again.”
“It was used for the first time on Wednesday, January 27, says Jason Duchscherer. “The rink is open to all three schools in Oyen for use during the day and for community members after school and on the weekend. It will allow many people a place to exercise in a way still following covid guidelines.
“The goal in the future is to put the outdoor rink in every year to allow the community a place to skate when the arena is in use. Prairie Rose School division, along with other stakeholders, will begin to look this summer for the best location of the rink on SCHS ground,” said Duchscherer.
Note: Thanks to those people who took time from their busy schedule to respond to my emails for information about this amazing community project.
