ICE RINKS

Hi, this Darlene Franklin, your native New Englander still spinning tales about my home country. For my second book in the Maple Notch Days series (fifth Maple Notch book overall), I planned a story about figure skating (my favorite winter sport)at the 1932 Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid, New York. She practices in an old mill house that has been converted into an indoor ice rink. Historically, Sonja Henje won the second of her three Olympic medals at the 1932 Olympics.

So I looked into the history of ice rinks. I don't understand how it works all that well; mechanics and science aren't areas I understand all that well. The process is similar to the one used in refrigerators and air conditioners. A base of concrete or sand is covered with pipes carrying the coolant of choice; and a mixture of water and other chemicals goes on top. Indoor rinks encouraged the growth of the sport of ice hockey. Figure skating was added as a sport to the 1908 Olympics--on an indoor rink during the summer games in London! The first successful ice rink, the Glaciarium, opened in London in 1876. The first one in the United States was built

in 1879 at Madison Square Garden. Two brothers, Lester and Joe Patrick, opened two skating rinks three days apart in Canada in 1912. Over the next several decades, they built ice rinks across northwestern United States and western Canada. Today people enjoy 1,700 rinks across America.

As a final note, the ice at Rockefeller Center is outdoors. The area, known as the Sunken Gardens, didn't attract visitors, so they converted it into an "temporary" ice rink in 1936. Today it's probably the most recognizable area of the Rockefeller. a story outdoor rins glaciarum earlyU.S. Rockefeller Center 1st in US Madison Square Garden http://www.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink.htm 1876: The first indoor ice rink opens in London. The ice is made through an expensive process of sending a mixture of glycerin and water through copper pipes. 1879: The first indoor ice rink in the United States opens in Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. 1908: The first Olympic figure-skating competition is held on a refrigerated indoor rink as part of the Summer Games in London Patrick brothers opened first two ice skating rinks in Canada, 3 days apart, in 1912. They built ice rinks across northwestern US and western Canada. 1700 rinks in US today. same basic technology as for refrigerators and air conditioning systems