Skating is a fun and very inexpensive way to spend time with the family, be active and get outdoors. You may be looking for ideas of things to do in Collingwood over this holiday break and skating is the perfect idea. There are a number of indoor and outdoor spots to lace up your skates and participate in family skate, shinny and more out on the ice.

Central Park Outdoor Rink

Located at 250 Hume Street, park behind the YMCA, off of Paterson Street. This outdoor rink is weather permitting, meaning that if the weather is too warm, you won’t be able to skate. There are a number of different programs available at the Central Park Outdoor Rink and you can check their schedule online. There are large chunks of public skating time each day. If you have really young kids and want an environment where they’ll feel comfortable without the older kids bombing around near them, check out the Parent & Tots skate on Saturday and Sunday from 11am until noon. Check out the various shinny programs from open, preschool, youth and adult. Thinking about having a skating party for your family and friends? You can rent the outdoor rink every weekend from 2pm until 4pm.

Central Park Arena

Located at 85 Paterson Street, this indoor arena also boasts a number of skating programs for the entire family to enjoy. This full-size 200-foot ice surface is large and well-maintained. There is seating for almost 400 people, plus dressing rooms for co-ed or female only skaters. This rink is available from October until May. During the winter, public skating is on weekends and the cost is $3 per person or $8 a family. Parent & Tot skating is free, with weekday, daytime times for parents and kids to enjoy the ice stress-free. Adults 50+ can enjoy adult shinny at the cost of $5 as a drop-in fee every Thursday.

Eddie Bush Memorial Arena

Located at 97 Hurontario Street beside the town hall, there are a number of programs also available here. While the daily schedule is not available online, this arena is offering a number of free public skates over the holidays. The dates for these are:

• December 27^th – December 30^th from 2pm until 3:30pm – during the Frozen in Time festival
• January 2^nd – Jnauary 6^th from 2pm until 4pm – sponsored by Tim Hortons

Millpond at Blue Mountain

At the Blue Mountain Village, once the ice is frozen on the pond, you can skate on it and it is one of the largest outdoor rinks in the region. Skate rentals are also available pond-side.

Skate rentals and sharpening

If you don’t have your own skates and there aren’t skate rentals available on-site at the arenas and rinks, consider renting them from Play it Again Sports in Collingwood.

There are a number of families out there who can’t afford a home in Collingwood. Unfortunately, with rising housing prices, the dreams of owning one’s own piece of property don’t work out for those who simply can’t raise a down payment or afford the mortgage payment. Fortunately for those in South Georgian Bay, Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that helps low-income families to build and buy their dream home.

Recently, a Wasaga Beach family realized their home ownership dream through Habitat for Humanity South Georgian Bay. Other families in the community can benefit from this program as well and those who don’t need the help can offer help to those who need it. But, this isn’t an Oprah Winfrey situation where people are rewarded with homes for just being there. What Habitat for Humanity does is set up no-interest mortgages on affordable and quality homes that they build themselves (with the help of the community).

Rather than come up with a down payment, families are expected to put in the sweat equity required to build the home, with other volunteers helping it along. As well, family members can volunteer at the Habitat ReStore in Collingwood, which is an amazing resource for those looking for used quality building materials and other goods. There are some amazing deals and the ReStore is huge with 11,500 square feet of space of supplies for home building, renovations and design. You can also donate your new and used household and building materials in order to help other families in the community.

So far, the South Georgian Bay branch has helped 12 families and they are planning on their 13^th build in the east end of Collingwood for next year. Habitat for Humanity has pledged to build 150 homes across Canada in celebration of Canada’s 150^th birthday in 2017.

If you are in need

If you don’t think you can manage owning a home on your own, due to financial hardship stopping you from saving a down payment, consider becoming a partner family. You can apply right on their site. If you want to volunteer, give a cash donation or a corporate sponsorship, that information is on their website as well.

Another small way you can help is to collect all of your aluminium cans and donate them to the ReStore, where they will sell them to a recycler and use the funds to continue their programs. At this time of year, doing all you can to help those is need is always appreciated and our Collingwood community is definitely up for the task.

The temperatures are hovering just above freezing, the leaves have turned and fluttering to the ground and people are starting to don scarves and mitts. This can mean only one thing: hockey season is here! Being a Canadian, hockey is ingrained into our culture and most kids growing up play some form of hockey.

If you’ve recently moved to the Collingwood area or are looking for minor hockey teams for your kids to play on, this article should give you some help.

The Collingwood Minor Hockey League accepts children from age 3 up to age 17 and places them in the appropriate division. Rates start at $220 for the little guys (under age 8) and go up to $600 for the bigger kids. While many people argue that hockey is expensive, there is financial aid for families who need it through programs like Jumpstart, Kids Sports Canada and the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association.

This league’s mission is to provide hockey at varying levels to all kids, with the following values being important to the child’s growth in hockey:

·        Character

·        Knowledge

·        Commitment

·        Leadership

·        Enjoyment

·        Sportsmanship

·        Integrity

·        Vision

If your child is new to hockey, the CHIPS program is the Canadian Hockey Initiation Program, which helps kids get a start. If your child is not new and has some good hockey skills, they can try out for a representative team, rather than play on the house or local league teams.

Before you know if your child is going to love hockey, you should not run out and buy brand new equipment. Stores like Play it Again Sports are great for buying and selling used hockey equipment. 

If you live on the outskirts of Collingwood or wish to play for a different league, there are a number of great leagues in really close proximity to Collingwood. The Essa Minor Hockey League offers all of the same advantages as the Collingwood League. The Wasaga Minor Hockey Leagues goes from Chips all the way up to Midget Rep. Stayner Minor Hockey offers a full-range of hockey divisions and teams as well.

For a full list of hockey associations in the area, the Georgian Bay Minor Hockey League has a comprehensive list. Many leagues have already ended their registration, but there is no harm in asking if there is a spot on any of the teams.

Go Blackhawks!

It’s obvious to see that summer is gone and fall is in full swing. The leaves are turning beautiful colours and the temperatures are cooler. This week, a frost advisory was issued in Collingwood and the surrounding area. Because of an Arctic air mass that was passing through, the temperatures dipped down below 0 degrees overnight earlier in the week. While it has warmed up since, there are ways to prepare for the next frost advisory and more cold weather that is inevitably on its way.

What’s the problem with frost?

While frost in itself isn’t going to hurt us in our warm homes, crops and other plants can be affected. This is why weather networks put out frost advisories – so you can prepare your plants and protect them. Other than that, there are other outside factors to consider when frost is on its way.

Plants

Move all of your houseplants back inside. Check both the soil and the plant for pests and if you see any, use removal techniques to get rid of them. If you have pots of perennials you want to keep alive over the winter, you can bring them in or cover them. As well, you’ll want to cut all plants that will overwinter, like herbs. In your gardens, till the soil right before a frost or hard freezing to kill any bugs that are planning to spend their winter vacation in your garden. Harvest any leftover vegetables and herbs, and if you can, root the stems in some water or replant in another pot for use inside. The only exception to the harvesting rule when it comes to frost is brussel sprouts, carrots, mustard greens and kale: they taste better when they’ve experienced frost.

Irrigation

Don’t forget to shut off the water to outside, which is sometimes located near your furnace in the basement. This is important so that your pipes don’t burst once it freezes. Disconnect all hoses from taps and empty them as best you can, usually on a slope. You’ll then want to coil them and store them inside. If you have an irrigation system, winterize it. If water has pooled anywhere in your yard during heavy rain, think about the fact that this area will freeze over during the winter and make any necessary changes.

Birds

You might not be that worried about the birds, but they do have a hard time locating food in the winter. If you want to help, you can install a bird feeder in your yard. If you want to have a birdbath, you’ll want it to have a heater.

Some people cringe at the signs of the first frost, but remember, that means we are that much closer to skiing and snowboarding season! Collingwood is so full of rich winter activities, it is hard to believe someone who lives here doesn’t love this season.