Gimli is once again in the process of transforming itself into a winter wonderland with under-the-stars skating on Lake Winnipeg and some light-tunnel therapy to banish the blues.
The municipality’s snow-clearing and ice-making specialist, Adam Stringer of Stringer Rentals and Gimli Home Hardware, got to work last week flooding a wide swathe of Gimli Harbour, which is safe to skate and walk on despite warmer-than-normal temperatures.
Using about 5,000 litres of water, Stringer fired up his mini-Zamboni to make a large rink and temporary skating trails. Although there’s no snow to create the banks for a permanent winding skating trail, people are free to lace up now and get gliding.
“We’ve already brought in a warming hut and flooded some temporary paths so that people can skate out to the rink or around the harbour. I also put pylons around the rink,” said Stringer. “We haven’t had a chance yet to put the skating trail in. Until we get snow, we can’t put the trail in; we need to make snow banks so that we know where to flood the ice.”
One of the new features this year will be a walking trail that Stringer said he’ll be building beside the skating trail so that non-skaters can enjoy a stroll around the harbour.
When the snow arrives, Stringer said he’ll be building an ice road on Lake Winnipeg for the fishing village. A number of anglers have already put their shacks on the ice outside the harbour, but there’s nowhere near the number there’d normally be at this time of year.
Stringer will be picking up benches – branded with the Gimli logo – that woodworking students at Gimli High School made and placing them around the skating trail.
And next year, he said they’re looking at bringing in saunas, which will really get people steamed.
The Gimli Chamber of Commerce’s Destination Brand Committee received funding from the Westshore Community Foundation (for benches, warming hut and solar lights) and partnered with the RM of Gimli and Gimli High School to get the ice fishing village and skating trail and rinks in the harbour up and running.
Committee Cheryl Buhler said they’ll be enhancing the rink and trail so that people can get on the ice at night for a bit of romance under the stars – something that proved very popular last year.
“Now that the skating rink has been built, the committee is in the process of putting up posts for lighting the rink and the trail. We’re also bringing in another warming hut that the high school woodworking class made, and we’re doing another light tunnel. We have funding for another extension of the tunnel to double it in size.”
The lack of snow last week didn’t stop families from getting out on the ice and strolling along the frozen sand on Gimli Beach to enjoy the remainder of the Christmas break, but they’re hoping that the town will see some of the white stuff soon.
Express Photos By Patricia Barrett and Cheryl Buhler
