Every week the venue plays music and transforms as the benches usually stacked with surly hockey masks are filled with small groups of mischievous children. Some weeks the event gathers more than 180 skaters.
Last Friday the ice was filled with whirling children, teens, and adults. Inside Hockey Bob’s Pro Shop, girls in matching pastels tried on ice skates to rent while beyond, the stands held a few watchful mothers.
Brandy Brown sat with a friend in the front row as her daughter and friends skated up to the glass. Brown said, “I have an 11-year-old daughter who is skating right now. She loves it. She is here with three of her other friends from school. They decided to meet up over break and have a little skate party at the Biddeford Ice Arena. She was very excited to get out and not be cooped up in the house and wanted to get out and have a good time with some friends. This is the first time we’ve come here, we’ve skated at other ice arenas but it’s a nice arena and I suspect we’ll come back on another youth-filled night.”
Although gliding around on skates appears effortless, the exercise benefits are similar to jogging. For children, skating is an activity with a countdown to naptime attached, and for parents, a guaranteed quiet night for Mom and Dad. When asked if skating makes her kids tired, Brown laughed, saying, “Of course, skating wears them out for sure.”
The annual Friday night event has more benefits for locals aside from wholesome entertainment and fun exercise. Local student Ryan Kyle is employed as a skate guard at Friday Night Meltdown. As one of the orange-clad shepherds of the ice, Kyle said, “Well you know, it’s just nice to be out here helping the community and helping people be safe on the ice and have fun. It’s a fun job at times, but it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of responsibility. I grew up skating and it’s just fun doing what you love.”
Friday Night Meltdown public skate is a regularly-scheduled family-friendly Friday night event at the Biddeford Ice Arena. The next Friday Night Meltdown is Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 from 7 p.m. to 9:40 p.m.
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