Most people have zero interest in being awake at 5 a.m. And even fewer want to be at work well before the sun pops up, especially these days when a child who can only count to 10 can read the thermostat.
Now try having the jobs of Patrick Lanman, Justin Wheeler and the rest of the Concord Parks and Recreation grounds division. Cause most days, they’re in the shop by 5 a.m. and out on one of the city’s frozen skating surfaces by 6.
“We’re starting at 5 because we kind of got behind the eight ball,” said Jeff Follansbee, parks and rec’s buildings and grounds supervisor. “December was so warm that we’ve been working from behind.”
If it has snowed, they’ll either snow blow or plow (depending on the thickness of the ice) and if it’s just another cold morning, it’s scraping off the junk that’s been churned up from people skating the day before.
Then, using hundreds of feet of connected fire hoses, they flood the ponds at White Park and Beaver Meadow, along with the skating rink at White Park and the bowl shaped skating area at Rollins Park. And if it’s cold enough, they do it just about every day.
“It all depends on the weather,” Follansbee said. “You have to time when you flood.”
What, do you think those surfaces just magically get all smooth over night? Mother Nature’s good, but not that good.
Last week, with the winter carnival and winter blast approaching, and the Black Ice tournament looming on the horizon, they were out there twice a day, every day – at least when it was cold enough.
“We do it as often as we can,” Follansbee said.
As you can probably figure out, putting water on ice and expecting it to freeze can’t be done when the weather is balmy. Temperatures in the teens and low 20s are ideal, so those days you don’t want to even make the short trek to your warmed up car, they’re out on the ice spraying hundreds of gallons of water. And if the wind shifts just right, well, you can guess what happens next.
The weather is something Follansbee keeps a close eye on. If there’s a snowstorm coming in, they won’t be out spraying the day before.
“You don’t want it too smooth if you’re going out to remove snow,” Follansbee said.
The pond at White Park is two acres, and Beaver Meadow is another one and a half. The pond spraying is done in sections and at Beaver Meadow last week, Lanman took care of the spraying, while Wheeler dragged the hose when moving it to a new spot on the pond.
“You’re just trying to get everything to fill in,” Wheeler said. “The water will go to the lowest spot. We want there to be a thin layer.”
Not counting the prep time, which all depends on the day, it can take upward of two hours to spray down each pond.
“We maintain the ice every day in some form,” Follansbee said.
Now you might think it gets pretty cold out there on the ice when the weather report calls for frigid temperatures, but these guys have been doing this long enough. They wear enough layers, including thermal underwear, sweatshirts, parkas, hats, gloves and whatever else they can find, to stay warm. But it’s not the temperature that makes things cold out on the ice, it’s all about the wind and how much it’s whipping around.
“The wind is probably the biggest thing,” Wheeler said.
“You’ve got to play games with the wind sometimes,” Lanman added.
There’s a hose hookup at each skating area and no, it’s not like the one you have connected to your house. Follansbee described it as a fire hydrant without the hydrant. They use seven, 50-foot hoses at Beaver Meadow and one more than that at White Park. And each time they have to roll them out, connect them and then roll them back up for storage.
“Once you start dragging the hose, it gets heavy,” Lanman said.
You can imagine on cold days, things tend to freeze up a bit from time to time.
“You’ve got to be really quick,” Lanman said. “You really want to push the water along.”
But it’s all about providing a nice clean surface for all you skaters out there. So say a quick thank you next time you see these pond sprayers. And stay off the ice until they’re done. It makes things a lot easier for them and less wet for you.
