News Photo by Julie Riddle Volunteer workers make final adjustments to the frame of an ice skating rink installed Tuesday at Bay View Park in Alpena. The rink should be ready for skaters by Christmas.

ALPENA — The two women in winter coats and mittens radiated enthusiasm.

“It’s a nice start. A cool little rink. I think people are really going to enjoy it,” said Alpena resident Kara Bauer LeMonds, straightening her floppy gray hat against the brisk wind.

They were standing by the frame of an ice rink, assembled minutes before on the still-green grass of Bay View Park in Alpena.

The two women are in the midst of an effort to bring free outdoor ice skating to their hometown.

Bauer LeMonds, along with Melissa Tolan-Halleck and their co-chair, Brandy Boucher, both of Alpena, have formed a committee they call Friends of The Alpena Outdoor Ice Rink. The group received approval to proceed with their project at Monday night’s city council meeting.

By Tuesday afternoon, the 40-foot-by-60-foot rink was erected at Bay View Park near downtown Alpena, at the corner of Prentiss Street and Harbor Drive.

An unexpected difficultly with the nearby hydrant delayed progress, but the rink should be flooded on Thursday and ready for skaters by the weekend — weather-dependent — according to Tolan-Halleck.

Area residents can look for signs near the rink announcing when the ice is ready for skating.

The organizers are excited about the rink’s close proximity to downtown. Nearby coffee shops and retail stores have expressed support of the project and are pitching in to enhance the project, donating shovels, water, benches, and more, according to Tolan-Halleck.

“We like the idea of promoting our downtown,” Tolan-Halleck said. “Any downtown business is excited to see anything where people are coming.”

The rink will be free to the public and available any time the weather permits skating. The organizers hope it will draw youngsters from the neighborhood.

“This neighborhood is full of kids. Her kids live here, my kids live here,” Bauer LeMonds said, gesturing at Tolan-Halleck. “They can throw their gear over their shoulder and just walk over here and skate.”

“But have a hat and mittens on,” Tolan-Halleck added.

The group received a $4,000 grant from the Youth Advisory Council of the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan to build the rink.

With the help of the grant, The Friends of the Alpena Outdoor Ice Rink will volunteer their time and cover the costs to make the rink possible this year. Their hope is that the city will take over the maintenance next year.

According to Tolan-Halleck, the city is open to this plan, pending a year’s trial under volunteer effort.

Bauer LeMonds is enthusiastic about the potential for the ice rink to build community in the area.

“A lot of our friends were building rinks in their back yards. And we were like, why is everyone building alone when we can all be skating together?” she said.

The organizers hope for a bigger rink in the future. They envision the addition of music, games, and events, possibly eventually evolving into a winter festival similar to Alpena’s Michigan Brown Trout Festival in the summer, according to Bauer LeMonds.

The women were inspired to bring the rink to Alpena because of childhood memories of skating on the bumpy ice at the local rink, which no longer exists.

“We missed red cheeks and freezing with your friends and being outside and getting tired the good, old-fashioned way,” Bauer LeMonds said.

The organizers believed they could bring their idea to life by working together.

“None of us could execute it by ourselves,” Bauer LeMonds said. “But, together, we were able to really make some serious strides.”

A love for Alpena and its people is what made the work worthwhile, according to Bauer LeMonds.

“We’re inspired by our town,” she said. “We’re inspired by what it can be. And we want to see it thrive.”

Anyone interested in volunteering at the rink for 20-minute ice checks in the evenings can visit the Friends of the Alpena Outdoor Ice Rink Facebook page.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com.