After a long period of setbacks and intense efforts, the Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center is on the verge of resuming skating. The Tupper Lake Central School District, which operates the rink, has been working tirelessly to fix the broken chilling unit. Finally, the much-awaited moment is near, with skating set to commence on Friday.

Public Skating and Upcoming Events

There will be public skating sessions from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, noon to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. These sessions precede the Skate Club's Christmas Skate Show, which will take place from 2 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Additionally, more public skate times are scheduled for next week. The varsity hockey team, which has faced reduced ice time and had to travel for practices due to the broken chilling unit, is set to begin their home ice practices on Monday. Their first home game is scheduled for 2 p.m. on New Year's Eve against Thousand Islands, following a pair of road contests - on Friday at Salmon River and on Dec. 27 at Norwood-Norfolk. The Lumberjacks will then host their non-league rival, Saranac Lake Placid, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2 in a rematch from this past weekend's outing at the Saranac Lake Civic Center, where they suffered an 8-1 loss.

Jet Ice Application and Final Touches

Last week, J. Hogan Refrigeration and Mechanical from Peru, New York, returned to the Civic Center to make some minor repairs after Mollenberg-Betz from Buffalo completed the retubing process. The team was grateful to have Hogan back as they have extensive knowledge of the system. Hogan's repairs included making tweaks to the brine ammonia cooling solution, cleaning out some compressors, and replacing a couple of valves. Since then, things have been going smoothly. On Monday, the author visited the civic center to witness the Jet Ice being applied. Jet Ice comes in boxes as a white powder and is mixed with water to give the finished surface a clean white appearance, enhancing the contrast with the painted lines needed for hockey. After mixing, the solution is applied using a metal tubing system to ensure an even and consistent coating. At this stage, the surface was not yet slippery, allowing personnel to paint the lines and logo. Once the paint is applied and set, the surface is flooded and frozen. The district staff plan to do final measurements on Thursday to ensure the ice is of proper quality for skating and meets the standards required for hockey games.A full schedule of upcoming events and programming at the Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center can be found at tinyurl.com/453z7y55.