Solid crowd welcomes Arlington Ice Rink back to downtown Carson City

The weather could not have cooperated more for the opening day of ice skating at the Arlington Square Ice Rink.

Dozens of skaters glided around the rink Thursday evening to songs like Olivia Newton-John's "Hopel-essly Devoted to You," while overhead lights flooded the rink with color.

"All I'm doing is concentrating on survival," said 75-year-old Carson City resident Richard Long.

Despite all appearances that he was a pro, Long swore he hadn't been on skates in decades.

"The last time I skated was 40 years ago in the Bay Area," he said, adding that he wanted to take his children and grandchildren to the rink because it was opening day.

Justin Yonkers, 13, and his sister Jessica, 7, also were among the crowd enjoying the ice rink.

"This is my first time here, but I played ice hockey once. My mom said she used to do this in Ohio, so we'll probably come back here with her," Justin Yonkers said.

Alma Meza didn't have a Thanksgiving celebration this year, so she decided to take her 5-year-old son, 8-year-old nephew and 13-year-old niece to the ice rink instead.

"We didn't have a turkey and we were alone, so we came here to have fun. We thought it was going to be really expensive but it isn't," she said.

Spectators Mike and Marilyn Madrigal of Carson City, walked over to take a look at the rink.

"I think it's a good idea. It's hard to make it real attractive without putting a lot of money into it, but it's a lot cleaner looking this year," said Mike Madrigal.

He thought it might be a good idea to give out some free tickets.

"When I was in grammar school, they handed out free coupons to the ice rink, so I tried it out and I kept going back because I really liked it," he said. "If you get them in here once, they'll go all the time."

Rink Supervisor Cassie Carter, from the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department, said she was very pleased with the crowd that had turned out on Thanksgiv-ing.

"Last night we had the ribbon-cutting and there were about 300 people here - almost everyone skated. There were 50-60 out there at a time," she said.

The city's Office of Business Development operated the rink last year, but the Carson City Board of Supervisors approved a contract in September for the Parks and Recreation Department to operate the facility with the OBD continuing to provide marketing support.