PORT ANGELES – The second run of the Winter Ice Village in Port Angeles will open later this month.
And this year, the temporary ice rink will be running two weeks longer than last year. The rink will open November 22nd through January 20th.
The rink will occupy the same space in downtown Port Angeles along Front Street as last year. Organizers say this year’s rink will be longer than last year. They also have plans to tweak the village around the rink and have more skates available for rental.
Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marc Abshire says they’re now signing up volunteers to help work the event.
“We do have quite a few slots available that we need to fill. Everything from skate rental to ticket office to Snack Shack. All those are there on the website and the job description about what that sort of entails is also listed there. If you sign up for a shift, a 4-hour shift, you will get a one-day free skate pass. So it’s one way to skate at no cost.
You can sign up to volunteer through the chamber’s website at portangeles.org or at bit.ly/skatehelper.
Last year’s Winter ice Village saw about 15 thousand skate sessions. One hundred eight volunteer put in more than four thousand hours. And 5,000 cups of hot chocolate were distributed.
Abshire says this year they’re also installing a transformer that will allow the rink to be powered from Port Angeles City Light. Last year they relied on generators to keep the rink refrigerator running. They also plan a webcam that will allow people to watch the skaters online.