McMinnville On Ice slides back into town Saturday for its second year.
Director of Parks and Recreation Justin Scott said he and the organizers learned a lot during last year’s first event. Scott said the city moved up the opening to support Main Street McMinnville’s annual Flip the Switch event and Small Business Saturday.
“Setting it up people start driving by and we have a lot of people that come up and ask us, ‘Hey, is this the rink? Is this what you put up last year,’” Scott said. “And so we put it, it’s downtown on our Narrow Court Square so it’s right in the middle of everything.”
Scott said last year some 1,500 people took advantage of the skating throughout the six weeks it was operational. Skaters will be allowed to spend 45 minutes at a time on the ice for $5.
“We feel like it’s going to be a great season for it and it does bring a lot of people downtown,” Scott said. “The kids love it and so it’s going to be good.”
Scott said this year they decided to put up skater safety aids that came with the rink to prevent injury.
“We have adults but we mostly have kids that do use those,” Scott said. “Obviously, we want people on the ice that can skate but for the smaller ones that get on there those things are super helpful.”
Scott said he encourages citizens to read the safety rules before entering the ice and be sure the skates they’re fitted with are the right size. Scott said the rink limits the amount of people that can be on the ice at once for safety.