By MC Havey, Archivist
The familiar scrape of blades on an outdoor ice rink and bracing fresh air have become a regular afternoon routine for some members of the Interprovincial Novitiate.
“I am embracing a Canadian winter,” noted Huy Vu of Houston, who decided to learn to skate in December when the nearby municipal Ledbury rink opened for a three-month skating season.
Huy is joined by veteran skaters Chung Tran of Seattle and Mike Cunningham of Brooklyn as well as Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico.
A five-minute walk from the Interprovincial Novitiate, the Ledbury rink, which was built in 1967, is the shape of a canal with dimensions of 50’ x 300’ and perfect for skating laps.
Despite Toronto’s coldest winter in 25 years, the skaters have braved the frigid temperatures, sometimes as low as -30C with the wind chill. So far this winter, Toronto has issued 27 cold weather alerts.
As the skating season ends with the closing of the rink on Feb. 23, many in the novitiate also participated in this winter’s popular indoor Canadian sport of watching and cheering events at the Winter Olympics.
(Photos courtesy of Shawn Brown (the Novitiate cook).
