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rc t ecoriomist suntribune community saturday feb 12 2000 11 for the love of the game by rick vanderlinde staff writer dazzling sunlight dances off the ice as a ragtag group of shinny players chases a skittering puck along the remarkably smooth surface of the frozen pond when they score its not into a net but between a pair of boots set up as goalposts at either end its pond hockey as it has been for generations played by kids and kids at heart for hours on end for the love of the game there are no coaches or parents shouting out instructions here no quarrels over ice time everybody plays or so they should but not every kid in york region has the chance to lace them up on wellmaintained shinny rinks like richmond hills mill pond and toogood pond in markham pete kendall used to play pickup hockey on the mill pond when he was a kid long before the town flooded and cleared the ice we played until our feet were frozen and our fingers were falling off he says gazing at the glassy frozen surface it was for the love of the game kendall was back at the mill pond on a warm winter tuesday afternoon for a game of pickup with his wife diane and his daughters heather 9 and katie 1 1 its great every town should have one kendall says as he leaves the change hut near the edge of the pond and parents need not worry about risky ice conditions like toogood pond ice conditions at the mill pond are posted warning skaters when to stay away but you wont find a simi lar outdoor ice surface in newmarket or aurora shinny players there have been forced on to less ideal and riskier ponds such as the mckenzie marsh on st johns sideroad and rogers reservoir north of newmarket auroras recreation department attempted to emulate the mill pond experience this year by maintaining a natural pond just east of the recreation complex on wellington street but the experiment crumbled when a tractor used to clear the frozen surface plunged through thin ice last month we dont know what happened town employee gary greidanas says the ice was 14 inches thick in other areas i guess it was just a bad spot the town employee driving the tractor wasnt hurt but the incident put a quick end to what could have been the best hockey pond around in past years auroras recreation department flooded soft- ball diamonds in town park and at confederation park but greidanas says this year the weather hasnt cooperated leav ing little time to create a good ice surface we need about six to eight inches of snow on the ground in december to create a good base we just didnt get that this year he says without that base its pretty much useless wan carriers to deliver the economist sun andj tribune in the following areas james speight road john stiver crescent plum tree circle main st unionville hans drive touraine drive wembley avenue townson drive duborg drive tea rose street ritter crescent joycedale street honeybourne cres pringle avenue normandale road ferndell circle pinebrook hollow springwoodcres berkeley court eton street dundee crescent turnberry crescent eckhardt avenue maple lane ambleside cres kerrigan crescent loweswater ave nadine crescent calderbridge cres lancashire road queensgate court john button blvd charrington cres calvary trail dumfries drive holmesdale drive george street drakefield road banfield avenue arrowflight drive alanadale drive friar tuck road rougecrest drive bramble way hepworth way jonquil crescent galsworthy drive brantwood court marmill way dorothy britton drive dowling circle jimston drive brackin road eden avenue cresane street quince crescent dancers drive fairways madison heights blvd bur oak avenue brunswick avenue fairlawn avenue brock avenue henrietta street william berczy blvd laird drive cairncross crescent stouffville main street eastern gate sullivan lane donna lee trail nswahd make extra mdney delivering the paper and flyers to homes in your area call today ec6mistsun stoiutviuethbune 482 meanwhile skaters have been clearing snow from natural ponds such as one in the case woodlot on henderson drive near bathurst street we dont really recommend that greidanas says we dont maintain them so people do it at their own risk newmarkets recreation department also abandoned any plans to create shinny pads this year by flooding a ball dia mond in the fairgrounds park the season is so short it just doesnt pay to do it parks employee bob burgess says its the same thing with backyard rinks you dont see many of them around either burgess says its even difficult to keep a solid surface at the lions outdoor rink which has icemaking equipment you get a mild day with some sun and its difficult to keep the ice in he says r still burgess remembers the hours he spent on ponds as a the young and the young at heart enjoy a game of pond kid honing his stickhandling skills and hed like to offer a hockey at the mount joy community centre in markham good outdoor rink for todays generation of pond hockey play- not all communities are lucky enough to have a quality out ers staff photosjoerd witteveen i certainly would like to do something next year burgess says door ice surface this year laiawsmiiier- rvv ix x-