Many people have had a good grip on it in recent days. Skating fever spread like wildfire through the Netherlands. Many enthusiasts also strapped on irons in Drenthe. Even now that the thaw has set in.
For example, Grolloo is still teeming with skating children. Actually, the students should have been in school, but the ice skating club Het Evenveen’s rink turned out to be more popular. “No, skating is not part of the school subjects,” explains primary school director Dorien de Vries. “But how wonderful is it that children get this opportunity, so close to school?”
The Ice Skating Association approves of it all. Geert Jan Dekker, associated with the skating club, looks back on a number of days of skating fun. “It froze so hard that everything could go ahead. Yesterday, three hundred people were there all day long. The entire village is empty and we are having a great time together.”
Even now that the temperature continues to rise above freezing, skating on the Grolloër rink is still responsible. “It is a bit wet now, but it is the last moment that it is possible. This afternoon we will see how long we can still go wild.”
Will there be a second period of frost, which will automatically increase skating fever? Dekker has doubts: “It will freeze a little bit, but there will be a thaw during the day. Then the ice floor will be gone.” In his capacity as ice master, Dekker is already sorting: “That won’t be it…”