Area Residents Show Their Skill on Ice Rink

by Tony Vindell/LFN

Some people like to spend the last days of the year with relatives. Others like to travel sometimes to places too far away, while some prefer to stay home instead of going through a lot of stress thinking about what to do next.

So why not finishing the end of the year skating on ice right here at home?

That is what hundreds of area residents did on Friday, Dec. 28 and Saturday Dec. 29.

Brownville’s Sports Complex Park brought in an ice skating rink for anyone wanting to do something different as 2018 came to an end.

Youngsters and adults alike seemed to enjoy the activity event though many of them hit the white slab as soon as they let their hands go off the rails around the rink.

“This is my second time ice skating,” said D. Balboa while putting on a pair of the single blade skates. “The first time I did it on real ice though.”

Her comments was in reference to the artificial rink but others did not care as they tried to master their skills, taking one step at a time.

Ray Arellano, the park’s superintendent, said this is the first time they had an ice skating rink since he has been running the place.

“We began working on this several weeks ago and everything was finalized on Friday, Dec. 21,” he said. “This is something we wanted to do for a while.”

He said people came from all over the area – Los Fresnos, Harlingen, Brownsville and even from Matamoros.

“They loved it,” he said. “The lines of people have been consistent.”

Kyle Constanzo, an employee with Artificial Ice Events of Boston, Mass., said the material they use is the same Olympic skaters use to develop their skills and strength.

“We go all over the United States,” he said. “This is our third city in the Rio Grande Valley.”

He said they were in McAllen and in Rio Grande City.

Anai Silva said she was glad to have the opportunity to ice skate.

“This is something new for many of us here,” she said. “I am glad we all came to have some fun.”