Just take a drive to one of the prettiest parts of Alfred, and look for the Brother Gatien Arena. With oldies on the speakers, a heated changing room, a special area for beginners, and a snack stand where everything is 50 cents, the skating barn is a classic that will remind many parents of their own childhoods. The rink is full enough to feel like a party, not full enough to be crowded.
Skaters range in age from toddlers to grandparents, with a healthy cluster of teens.
More than one adult is skating for the first time in many years, holding tightly to the hand of a child or grandchild just learning. Now and then Brother Marcel leaves the skate sharpener and whizzes across the ice, pushing an ice cleaner on a long handle. After he heaps up the shaved ice, a young skater opens the barn window and shovels it out. Brother Marcel floods the ice to keep it fresh each day, and delights in his work. It's 38 degrees outside but 22 in here.