Can we skate tomorrow? That’s the big question. Various ice skating clubs in Drenthe have confidence in it.
“We can only be really sure tomorrow morning, because you never know what the weather will do at night. All it takes is a cloud or it won’t be as cold as they predicted,” says Monique Wessels of the ice skating association in Nieuw-Buinen. “But we are very hopeful.”
The ice skating club has been busy with preparations since Wednesday. Trekkers have cleared the track of snow and today volunteers are busy melting and blowing away the last remnants.
The association can count on support from the neighborhood. After a call for snow plows earlier this week, five farmers showed up on their doorstep with equipment. “And this morning there was suddenly someone with a load of kneelers for the volunteers,” says Wessels.
“We get a call asking: Shall I make a pan of chowder for the volunteers so that you can get through the night? It’s not just that we are enthusiastic. I notice that it is alive in the village.”
It is not the first time this winter that skating has been possible in Nieuw-Buinen. The course also opened on Boxing Day and about a thousand visitors strapped on their shoes. According to Wessels, it is due to the favorable asphalt track that is flooded. “Then you simply have many more options than if you have a flooded pasture.”
If the skating fun continues tomorrow, it will probably only be short-lived. The weather forecast does not look favorable for Monday.
Even if it is for one night, in Nieuw-Buinen they are willing to do anything for it. Wessels: “We sometimes say: what are we all doing? But it is your passion, it is beautiful and we are very enthusiastic. We want to do everything we can to commit ourselves to this.”
Some other ice skating clubs in Drenthe also hope to open the rink tomorrow. Like the one in New Amsterdam/Veenoord. “We are going to apply some more water and then the frost will have to do the rest. Hopefully we can open tomorrow at 9 a.m.,” says chairman Margriet Lunenborg-Sieben of the local ice skating association.
“It would be nice if we could have another skating day. Tonight and tonight it will freeze and tomorrow during the day it seems to be fairly calm weather. The prospects look good,” says Lunenborg-Sieben optimistically.
But there is not a hosanna atmosphere everywhere in Drenthe. For example, the rink of IJsvereniging Nooit Gedacht in Drouwenerveen will not open tomorrow. And while the association was the only one in the province to welcome skaters on Christmas Day.
“There is snow on the track and we cannot get it away. A few drains have frozen over, so that is impossible,” sighs Marinus Hulshof of Nooit Gedacht. “Unfortunately, things are not going well this time.”