The Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-01-15, Page 5Canada's best
backyard hockey arena?
QMI AGENCY
Scott Betts has come a long way since
his childhood experience of shovelling
and scraping the swamp on his parent's
farm, where he skated day and night.
Outdoor skating was a magical time
and so when he and wife Tanya had
kids, he wanted to make his own rink to
share the experience with family and
friends.
"The ambience of an outside skating
rink at night is awesome," the 44 -year-
old land surveyor said Saturday in an
interview about the rinks he ended up
building.
First, their young family skated on a
pond on their farm southeast of Flesh-
erton. Next Betts poured a concrete
pad, installed a hydrant and put up
lights for night skates. But the mainte-
nance was endless hard work. It would
be so much better if he could enclose
the rink....
When he couldn't get a permit to put
a building over the pad which was too
near the road, he poured a new pad and
erected a barn over it instead. That was
in 2009.
But Betts was in maximum dream -
fulfillment mode and he didn't stop
there.
On Saturday he showed a couple of
visitors "Bettsy's Rink of Dreams," a
hockey arena used by his family, their
friends and what he hopes will be
increasing numbers of community
members to enjoy the shared experi-
ence of skating, just for the fun of it.
It's a half -sized rink with rounded
corners, boards, glass and a scoreboard
surrounding artificial ice. Geothermal
units cool the ice pad, heat the change
rooms and cool and heat their house.
An old Olympia ice resurfacer sits in its
own garage with heated floor. There's
even a rink viewing area.
"It's kind of a progression, it's almost,
it becomes a bit compulsive these
things after awhile," Betts said. "I'd hate
to even sit down and figure out what
I've spent on this building and cement
pad. It would be shockingly stupid to
most people probably."
Utilities for the arena alone cost at
least $1,000 a month. He accepts dona-
tions but doesn't charge skaters, includ-
ing regulars like the Monday night
eight -year-olds from a Novice Flesher -
ton team, the Wednesday night Atom
and Peewee teams or the family which
comes every Sunday.
Daughter Brooke Betts, 18, said she
enjoys playing family pickup games of
hockey or just shooting pucks with her
brother, Kyle, 16. Kyle skates on it daily,
dreams of playing in the NHL, and on
recent school snow days, he and his
pals were on it "from basically as soon
Submitted
Tanya and Scott Betts (foreground) with their children and nieces and nephews in
Bettsy's Rink of Dreams on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 at their farm near Flesherton. With
the help of friends, family and the community Scott Betts built an indoor ice hockey
arena complete with, boards, glass, lighting, score clock, dressing room and an
Olympia ice resurfacer in a recycled driving shed on his farm near Flesherton. (Back
row L -R) Stirling Betts 13, Brooke Betts 18 (daughter), Travis Verbeek 9, Tori Verbeek
11 and Kyle Betts 16 (son).
as you wake up 'til suppertime."
The Bettses have organized fun
three -on -three tournaments, which
drew players from Gravenhurst, Oril-
lia, Midland, Durham, Orangeville,
Owen Sound, Flesherton and Mount
Forest. Afterwards they all ate pizza
and enjoyed each other's company,
Betts said.
"I love seeing people use it. When
kids are skating around playing shinny,
I just love seeing people use it. When I
was a kid that was one of my favourite
things to do."
if
The ambience of an
outside skating rink at
night is awesome
— Scott Betts
He's had lots of help realizing his
dream.
"People started to hear about it and
some of the arena managers in the area
were extremely helpful when I started
building this new rink."
Williamsford Arena people donated
the old score clock and a few pieces of
glass when the facility closed. When
Dundalk replaced its boards and
hockey glass and rink lighting, Betts was
offered what he needed.
A neighbour told Betts about the
Olympia ice resurfacer, which Betts
reluctantly turned down because he
couldn't manage any more expense.
But his neighbour told him he'd always
wanted to help Betts with his project
and so he made a generous donation to
help buy the resurfacer.
The old poll -construction barn over
the ice was going to be demolished, on
a farm slated to be part of the mega -
quarry which never happened near
Honeywood. Betts and his family took
down the barn and trucked back to
Flesherton.
While he has upped his insurance, he
doesn't want to think about liability
issues. He himself has only skated on
the ice once this year and it's the same
for Tanya, who's a full-time high school
teacher. Its mainly for others to enjoy,
which pleases them.
"I hope I never live in a society where,
yeah, we stop doing things to help peo-
ple - like that way - that you're afraid of
doing good things because you're afraid
you're going to get sued," Betts said.
"Because really, this is really about
community in a small area and kids
having fun," he said. "I'd like to get more
people using it."
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 • Lucknow Sentinel 5
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