If this season of quarantine and anxiety has made you restless and longing for a measure of simple, pure exuberance, make a big red mark on your calendar for Thursday, November 19.
That’s when Highlands Skating Rink opens at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park.
It’s the opportunity to bundle up, glide, hold tight to someone you love, spin like a figure skater, smile, and breathe in great lungfuls of clear, sweet mountain air.
Open through March, the rink has been a gathering place for winter activity since 2015, thanks to generous donations of Art and Angela Williams and a host of local benefactors.
Even if you’re not inclined to skate, you can sit by and watch as you enjoy some fresh hot chocolate or coffee.
Hours are Thursdays 1:00 until 8:00 P.M.; Fridays and Saturdays 1:00 until 10:00 P.M.; and Sundays, 1:00 until 5:00 P.M.
Cost is $5 (with or without skates). Rental skates are available, from youth size 8 through adult size 14.
Though in the past the rink has been open to everyone, sometimes drawing as many as 500 skaters in a day, in a concession to safe pandemic practices it’ll be restricted to 30 skaters at a time, with skaters limited to 90-minute sessions. To schedule your time on the ice, call the Highlands Recreation Department at (828) 526-3556.
Of course, this is all subject to change as the town adjusts to operating a skating rink during this Covid-19 season, so go ahead and call the Rec Department before you make serious plans.
by Luke Osteen
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