Some people believe that a church, school and rink are the pillars of any society.
All three can be considered character builders in a sense that they are places where you learn at a young age to respect others, take criticism, appreciate support and in the end develop a strong sense of community.
Lately, I have probably spend more time in rinks than I have the other two places, but I can tell you I still pray and learn new things while I am there.
However, I never dreamed I would ever get the chance to sit, let alone steer, a Zamboni ice resurfacer. For those who have seen me drive, don’t worry, I didn’t have to back up and I had Darryl Marcott, rink manager for Trenton, by my side the entire time.
My only comment is that is not as easy as it looks, which gives me a new appreciation for all the rink managers and workers in the county who show up every day to make the ice perfect for us all to use.
Rarely do we see their stress as they think about what could go wrong in a split second if the ice plant didn’t run or the Zamboni ice resurfacer didn’t start up.
A recent conversation with Barry Trenholm of the Pictou County Sports Hall of Fame highlighted the fact that we have newspaper clippings, photos, medals and banners of teams and figure skaters who glided on the local ice, but we have little documentation of the people who made it all happen year after year.
The backbones and leaders of churches and schools are easy to identify as they stand in front of congregations or classrooms, but rarely will a rink manager be in front of crowd, except while he or she is cleaning the ice.
And even then, it is the machine itself that gets all of the glory.
