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RANGELEY –The 12th annual New England Pond Hockey Festival will be held Friday through Sunday, Feb. 2 to 4, on Haley Pond, featuring teams made up of men and women who have always loved skating on small ponds and frozen streams or at community outdoor rinks.
The tradition and stories told of their first experience is what binds their love of outdoor skating together.
They travel here from Maine and other states, renewing friendships made during this festival, meeting up with alumni from their college days and work places, for an opportunity to skate on a pond in the Western Mountains of Maine.
The rinks (75′ x 150′) are created by a group of enthusiasts who travel to Rangeley each year to improve the condition of these man-made rinks with snow boards and wooden goals. First comes the opening of the entrance to Haley Pond on Main Street at what is now called Sarge’s Additional Parking, (previous known as City Cove Reality). The clearing of snow off the ice starts there to create the ice road to the rink area. The area cleared for this event is approximately 6 acres of ice. Within this area, free parking is provided for players and the public and well as a village area including tents for the players, providing heat, light, seating and free water. Tere is a headquarters trailer, score board, podium, etc. Shovels are provided at each rink for the players to scrape the ice after each game. Slush bucket teams help repair and maintain the ice in between each game. A couple of extra rinks are created in the event a rink needs to be taken out of use because of cracks etc.
This year, the headquarters will be at The Farmhouse, 2057 Main St., owned by Shane & Stacey Vorous. Their newly created “barn” — deconstructed and rebuilt into a 3,600 sq. ft. event facility — will be the site for the welcoming Friday and for Saturday night festivities. Tumbledown Brewing will be a lead sponsor for the beer being offered to players. The festival will begin Friday at 6 p.m. with the arrival of the teams. Competition, camaraderie and sportsmanship makes these games special each year. As the players arrive for beverages and hors d’oeuvres, friendships are renewed and new teams are welcomed. At this time, teams learn of their seeding position for Saturday games, which begin at 9 a.m. The scorers (all volunteers) meet at 7:30 p.m. to go over the rules of the game for the next two days. At 8:30 p.m. there is a mandatory captain’s meeting, to discuss any questions and rules.
Although the games begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, a 15-minute opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Each game is played on the hour, with a lunch break built into the schedule. The games will continue, with the last game scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Saturday night entertainment will be from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring a raffle, drinks and refreshments. At this time, teams making the playoffs — beginning Sunday at 9 a.m. — will be announced. The semifinial and championship matchups and the awards ceremony will follow the Sunday games.
A raffle will benefit the Rangeley Skating Club, in its 11th year. This skating club was created after the first festival. With the renewed interest in skating, 150 pairs of skates were donated with the help of the players. Other donations included pucks, sticks and gear given to promote the cause. Day and night skating was offered with the help of the Town of Rangeley, and two years later, a warming hut was built with donations from local businessmen. Today the club offers free skates of all sizes to the local community and visitors alike on Haley Pond. Stop by Ecopelagicon Nature Store on Pond Street during store hours to try on your skates and enjoy skating.
For more details, visit wwwnewenglandpondhockey.com or call Linda Sikes 207-491-6566 if you have specific questions.
