Hockey group raising money for concrete rink

The Flathead Valley Hockey Association has a goal that is literally set in stone.

The nonprofit group is leading a grassroots effort to raise $80,000 to install a concrete surface at the Woodland Ice Center in Kalispell. By doing so the association will be able to extend the ice season for one more month — two weeks earlier in the fall and two weeks later at the end of the season.

“We’d love to do the concrete this spring,” said Christy Eisinger, a volunteer hockey parent who is helping with the “Set it in Stone” fundraising campaign. “The city is not putting in any money. This really has to be grassroots.”

Eisinger said about $40,000 has been raised. Beyond the $80,000 needed for the concrete, the association is working to raise additional money to improve the locker-room building and storage facility for the ice maintenance equipment.

The Flathead Valley Hockey Association was formed 10 years ago to administer and manage hockey programs at the Woodland Ice Center. Steve and Genia Tartaglino, with Tony Clayton, purchased a used portable, refrigerated ice-rink system. The city of Kalispell offered the old swimming pool site at Woodland Park after a new water park was built, and the group was off and running.

The rink, home to the Flathead Flames, is heavily used by both adult and youth hockey teams, Eisinger said, along with school groups and the Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department’s learn-to-skate program.

“All winter long we have jamborees Friday through Sunday,” she said.

Six three-day tournaments during the season bring in eight to 16 teams for each event. That means 16 to 20 families per team staying in Kalispell during the tournaments.

“During an off-season for Kalispell it brings a lot of business in,” Eisinger said.

Getting the rink ready to go each year is a laborious process, though. It takes about 1,000 volunteer hours to set up the infrastructure for the outdoor ice rink.

The boards have to be reset around a sand base. Plastic tubes that hold the refrigerant have to be weighed down with about 200 five-gallon buckets of water as they’re being set “so the tubes are as low as possible and level.

“Then we get the chiller running and flood the rink,” she explained. “Once there’s a good base, then we put down white paper and then more ice. Then they bring the glass [boards] in.”

Having a concrete surface would eliminate that process and create a more stable ice surface.

The hockey association maintains the rink and the equipment to maintain the ice. Fees for ice time and other program charges bring in money to pay for the upkeep, and various fundraisers fill in the gaps. The association also relies on a number of loyal sponsors that have supported the rink over the past decade.

In addition to extending the ice season, creating an all-season facility would allow other groups to use the surface.

To donate to the Set it in Stone campaign, go online to www.flatheadflames.org and click on the “Donate Now” button, or mail checks or money orders to the Flathead Valley Hockey Association, P.O. Box 2205, Kalispell, MT 59903.

For more information, email Eisinger at eisingerhockey@gmail.com or call Woodland Ice Center at 406-755-4233.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.