CAZENOVIA — Last winter, the Cazenovia Boys Varsity Ice Hockey team moved its pre-season skates and practices outdoors to the Burton Street Rink after the SUNY Morrisville IcePlex became unavailable due to COVID-19.
Recognizing that the hockey and pedestrian rinks at Burton Street Park could do with some upgrades, Laker parents Kelly McCrink and Nicki Donlin stepped up to raise funds for the work and offer their assistance to Rink Manager Mark Costello.
“The rink is such a treasure to our little village,” said McCrink. “Our high school hockey team had a season last year because of the rink. . . As a hockey parent of a number of sons since 2013, I can’t fathom the loss of a season of memories and development. . . There is a reason kids grow up in Caz, go off to school [or] to work, and then come back to raise their families here. It’s an amazing community to do the most important job of your life.”
To help support the rink improvements, McCrink created a commemorative pillow based on a photo she took at the hockey team’s first skate on Jan. 28, 2021.
McKenzie Houseman, the owner of 20|EAST on Albany Street, sold the pillows for $40 and donated all revenues to the rink.
McCrink’s shop, “By Kelly,” contributed $700 worth of pillow supplies. Donlin, along with Todd and Jill Bennett of Total Lawn Care & Landscaping, also made donations.
According to McCrink, the Burton Street Rink pillows raised a total of $4,170.
In February 2021, Community Bank District Manager Barbara Houghton organized a $2,000 donation to the rinks on behalf of the bank.
To help the fundraising effort, Donlin used her connections to the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) to facilitate online donations.
Last January, she announced on the “Burton St Rink” Facebook page that CACDA had agreed to accept donations to the rink through its website.
As of November 2021, the monetary donations totaled $6,315.40, minus the associated PayPal fees.
So far, the pillow sales, along with the profits from last year’s “Skate with a Laker” bake sale, have covered the purchase of a Sparx skate sharpener and three grinding stones, six “pushers” to assist first-time skaters on the pedestrian rink, two stand-alone plastic goalies for the hockey rink, and two NHL-quality hockey nets.
The skate sharpener, which was delivered to the rink on Jan. 14, is available for public use, free of charge.
“This is a wonderful addition due to the damage skate blades incur while skating outdoors,” said McCrink. “This prevents the long trip to Syracuse for sharpening skates and allows the occasional skater a greater chance of enjoying the rink. We have numerous parents picking up used skates for their little ones to enjoy a few skates a year on the rink.”
The pushers, which arrived on Jan. 20, can be stacked for taller skaters. According to McCrink, each one has space on the front for business or personal advertisements, which can be purchased for $250. That money, minus the cost of printing, will be put towards the purchase of grinding wheels for the skate sharpener or other items needed to improve the rink.
Jay McMahon, the owner of the Albany-based company Sure Shot Hockey, personally delivered the 60-pound plastic goalies to the rink, saving the fundraisers hundreds of dollars on shipping. The life-size tools will allow players to hold pick-up games when goalies are unavailable and allow individual players to practice their shooting skills.
On Jan. 25, McCrink said she and Donlin were waiting for the call to pick up the two nets from a local hockey rink.
“We were able to purchase two nets, have them sandblasted, painted, and re-netted for $600,” she said. “New nets are close to $1,000 each, plus $700 in shipping.”
The existing nets, which have been at the rink since its opening, will remain at the park in a new shooting alley Costello created near the hockey rink.
McCrink and Donlin are currently looking into two engravable benches that would be placed at each rink. The arrival of benches will be announced on the rink’s Facebook page.
Although McCrink is no longer making her pillows to sell at 20|EAST, she is still accepting individual orders.
“If anyone would like one, they can reach out to me and I’d be happy to deliver in Caz or ship,” she said.
All the monetary donations collected via the CACDA website will be put towards leveling of the pedestrian rink and the hockey rink, which was originally installed as part of a community skate park.
“The bottom of [the hockey rink] is like a big bowl,” Costello explained in March 2021. “There [are drains] you can plug, so you could fill it up with water and it would act like a pond you could freeze. But that really hasn’t worked out that well. They are talking about making that rink level, so you just go in there, put your six inches of water in, and it will freeze. You wouldn’t have to wait for all 10 inches of water to freeze. Plus, the lacrosse kids could use that level surface too.”
According to Costello, the goal is to level the pedestrian rink this spring.
“That’s definitely going to get taken care of,” he said. “We talked to a contractor last fall, and he told us it wouldn’t be that big of a deal and that he’d take care of it.”
Leveling the hockey rink, however, will be a more involved project that will require expert consultation and additional planning.
“We’ll cross our fingers that all good things happen, and we get it taken care of this summer,” Costello said. “[Until then,] we will keep putting water down and [hoping] Mother Nature keeps cooperating with us. The weather has been great this year. The lack of snow really helps, because you can’t really make ice with snow. . . We’ve had a great turnout this year too. It’s really nice to see it getting used.”
The rink manager commended McCrink and Donlin for their dedication to improving the rinks.
“Kelly and Nicki are just unbelievable,” he said. “They have done such a great job of raising money and putting it back into the [rinks].”
He also extended his gratitude to Tyler Dunne, a former Cazenovia hockey player who has been helping Costello with “muscle work” at the rinks.
Currently, McCrink, Donlin, and Costello are exploring the possibility of selling commemorative shirts to raise money to buy second-hand kickplates for the hockey rink.
Kickplates, which are the plastic yellow pieces that run along the bottom of the boards where they meet the ice, help prevent pucks, skates, and ice resurfacing equipment from damaging the plywood boards.
According to Donlin, new fundraising dollars will also go towards the purchase of the two memorial benches, a handrail for the pedestrian rink, and construction supplies.
“Burton Street Park is one of the only recreational areas in town that is not affiliated with the school, making it somewhat more accessible, especially when we were dealing with quarantine and COVID protocols,” said Donlin. “Aside from the rinks, it is home to two little league baseball/softball fields, a basketball court, a playground, and a building with a concession stand and bathrooms. The Cazenovia Baseball and Softball Association raised $25,000 to improve the baseball/softball fields and have done a fantastic job engaging the community in this effort, too. The potential for the park is endless.”
The village is also planning to complete its own Burton Street Park improvements.
According to Mayor Kurt Wheeler, the village received a grant about three years ago to upgrade the park, including the parking area and the service building. However, the project was put on hold due to COVID-19 and delays in getting a contract from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for the grant.
“It is now moving forward, and we are in the design stage,” said Wheeler.
The rink-specific CACDA online donation portal is closed, but donations can be made at any time with checks made out to “Village of Cazenovia – Burton Street Rinks” and mailed to Village of Cazenovia, 90 Albany St., Cazenovia, NY 13035.
For rink hours, ice conditions, and skate sharpening times, as well as rink-related photos and stories from community members and former Lakers, visit the “Burton St Rink” Facebook page.
