Ice Skating in Downtown Regina
· 8 min. read
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When I was younger, I really loved winter. I loved sledding, snowball fights and building snowmen. One of my favourite pastimes was visiting a little outdoor ice rink a few blocks from my house. Every winter my friends and I would climb over the walls of the rink and goof around on the ice. When we weren't falling over our feet, we'd play hockey with whatever snow chunks we could find. As these events became more frequent, we often talked about playing real hockey on the rink. Eventually, we would end up playing hockey, but we'd settle for the street in front of our houses instead.
Beyond childhood, the only other time I went skating was in high school. Everybody else's ice skating skills had improved with age, but mine were still that of a fourth grader. I remember standing in the rink, struggling to shoot while holding my balance, only to have a classmate swoop in and steal my puck! Ever since then, I've stuck to floor hockey.
As I got older, my love for winter dwindled. Now I find it cold, icy, dark and sometimes miserable. My blog usually slows down in the winter for this very reason. I've been trying to get out and enjoy our longest season of the year, but it's hard. Most days I just want to stay inside.
Since staying inside during the winter months isn't very interesting, I've been trying to find fun things to do outside each year. Last year I went skiing at Mission Ridge, and this year I tried ice skating. Every winter the City of Regina Parks Department floods and maintains rinks around the city, and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District operates the rink in Victoria Park. The rink is open every day of the week, and they have staff available with free skates on weekdays from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, and from 6 PM to 9 PM and on the weekends from 1 PM to 5 PM. This gives you plenty of chances to enjoy the ice, any day of the week.
The rink also has several unique events going on throughout the winter. If you visit the rink on January 18th you'll experience their highly anticipated "80s Night", while January 25th has their classic "90s Night". February 17th also has their "Disney Day" skate, in which children (and adults) are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Disney character.
If you're looking for somewhere romantic to take your significant other, February 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th and 14th are all date nights dedicated to you and your sweetheart.
As I approached the rink in Victoria Park for the first time, I was a little hesitant. I had plenty of experiences falling on ice during my childhood and teenage years and it's not something I personally enjoy (and I don't get up as fast as I used to). But, when I arrived at the rink, I saw scores of people skating around on it. There were a few talented skaters, and there were also ones who had similar skating skills to me, and they were holding onto chairs for balance.
After seeing this, I decided to give it a try.
Although I don't really know how the skate, the staff were more than happy to teach me some basic tricks. I clutched onto my support chair for dear life as they helped me skate in slow circles around the rink, but I still did it. Although I was probably one of the clumsiest skaters out there, I still had a lot of fun, and, to make things even better, I never fell!
While there are dozens of rinks throughout Regina, the one in Victoria Park is unique because it's in the hub of the city. If you need a bite to eat, you are surrounded by some of the best restaurants in the province, and if you need an escape from the working world, the rink is the perfect getaway. With the streets around the park being some of the busiest in the city, it feels almost ethereal that you can skate peacefully (or awkwardly and lumberingly, if you're me) amid it all.
The rink downtown has been open for years and has been responsible for countless stories. The Regina Downtown Business Improvement District collected these stories last year for part of their "Rink Stories" series. They collected hundreds of stories of different people from different walks of life that ended up visiting the rink. Some of these people were students that had just moved to Regina, while others were long termed residents that have been skating for decades. Some were senior citizens, some were children and many were somewhere in between. Last year a couple special guests even visited the rink too, such as Spider-Man, Elsa and Anna from Frozen and even a newly wedded couple, still dressed in their tux and gown.
Last year, workers at the rink taught 25 Syrian refugees how to skate. Coming from a mostly desert country, many of these people had never stepped foot on ice, let alone learned to skate. Members of the Business Improvement District helped teach them how to skate, and in turn welcomed them to one of Canada's most popular winter pastimes.
I had a great time skating when I was at the rink last weekend, and it's something I can't wait to do again. Near the end of the day I was able to let go of my support chair and take a couple steps without it. Although I'm not comfortable enough to skate around the outside of the rink yet, maybe with a little more practice I will be.
Do you have any memories of skating in Victoria Park? Will you be heading down there this winter? If so, tag the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #yqrdt.
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Categories: Canada, History, Regina, Saskatchewan
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