Frozen triumph: Ross Rink emerges as a premier outdoor ice destination in northern Minnesota
Jan. 27—ROSS, Minn. — The old Ross Rink — a wintertime beacon for generations in this small northwest Minnesota community in northern Roseau County (Population 3, according to the sign) — had seen better days when the Roseau School District turned it over to the local Dieter Township board in 2016.
Time had taken a toll on the rink, situated on 9 acres of land that once was the site of an elementary school for rural students in grades 1 through 8. The lights sometimes didn't work, the boards had fallen into disrepair and the rink just wasn't used very much.
My, how things have changed.
It's been a process of gradual improvements, but through the efforts of an ambitious group of young people who formed
Ross Community Rink and Rec — a nonprofit that oversees the site for the township — the Ross Rink today is among the nicest outdoor rinks in northern Minnesota.
"I remember thinking we'd be lucky if we could just keep all of this going," said Derek Ellenson, vice president of Ross Community Rink and Rec. "And it just snowballed."
Thanks to aggressive fundraising efforts and support and donations from area businesses, residents and former Ross School students, among others, the Ross Rink today has brand new boards mounted on cement footings to prevent shifting and a 16x32-foot warming house, completed in 2017, with electric heat that runs on a timer.
They even have a Zamboni, purchased last year from owners in nearby Badger, Minnesota, who no longer had use for the machine. In November, a contractor built a 28x32-foot shed to house the Zamboni and provide additional locker room space.
A dozen lights, installed in early January by the Roseau Electric Cooperative, ensure the Ross Rink again is a beacon even on the darkest of winter nights.
With
Hockey Day Minnesota
festivities in full swing, the Ross Rink story is yet another reason to celebrate life in the "State of Hockey."
This year's Hockey Day Minnesota is headquartered in Warroad,
also in Roseau County.
"We have a lot of pride in this place," said Terry Stoe of Champlin, Minnesota, treasurer of Ross Community Rink and Rec. "And growing up here, it's a generational thing, too. Our parents grew up here going to school, playing hockey and as we got older, a lot of us now have kids. We want it to continue, generation-wise.
"It's basically just a community hangout, for the most part, for the kids to enjoy."
Work on the boards and lights wrapped up just in time for this year's Fifth Annual Ross Pond Hockey Classic, set for Saturday, Feb. 17. Last year's pond hockey tournament drew eight teams, and organizers this year hope to have a dozen teams. Each team can have up to six players, and the registration fee is $250 per team.
The snazzy new boards are quite a change from last year, when organizers set up hay bales for boards for the pond hockey tourney because the old boards, dating back to 1994, had already been removed.
"We were hoping to have the boards up (in the fall of 2022), but the wet conditions and rain threw everything off," said Steph Lins, a board member whose husband, Eric, is co-president of Ross Community Rink and Rec. "We felt kind of defeated."
Still, hay bales for boards didn't dampen the enthusiasm of pond hockey players or the sizable crowd that attended.
"It was a great success," Eric Lins said. "Everybody said, 'This is awesome' "
The challenge this winter has been unseasonably warm weather, which delayed flooding the ice at Ross and outdoor rinks across the state. Still, the new boards are up, the lights are installed and everything is falling into place.
The Roseau Peewee A hockey team held its practice on the rink Wednesday afternoon, and a camera crew from Bally Sports was onsite filming a feature as part of its Hockey Day Minnesota coverage.
"One thing leads to another," said Garrett Lee of West Fargo, co-president of Ross Community Rink and Rec. "I don't think we really planned on getting a Zamboni. And then we had to build a shed for it, and (the warming house) doesn't hold enough people for our Pond Hockey Tournament so that's why we added the lean-to on the Zamboni shed. It gives us another locker room."
Besides raffles, bake sales, pizza sales,
a GoFundMe page
and other fundraising events such as a summer cornhole tournament and the upcoming pond hockey tournament, the nonprofit this winter rounded up about a dozen businesses who bought four-year sponsorships to have their logos on the rink's new boards.
Because they don't all live nearby anymore, board members try to meet virtually once a month, Lee said, usually on Sunday evenings, and also have an active group chat for keeping in touch.
"We have a lot of support from a lot of people," Steph Lins said. "Actually, the towns of Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush — everyone has been great in supporting us.
"For how much we keep asking for money and donations, everyone has been amazing. And I have not heard one complaint."
Intercept Industries, a Roseau manufacturing company whose owners have roots in Ross, designed, built and donated the boards, and the steel frames were powder coated by Polaris Industries.
Kevin Broten, a board member who owns Peace Grenades — a screen printing and clothing business — and Broten Concrete in Roseau, has been instrumental in helping build the new hockey rink, Stoe said. His crew put down the cement footings, installed the majority of the new hockey rink boards once they were delivered from Intercept Industries and poured the foundation for the Zamboni shed.
Members of the nonprofit, along with family and friends, have donated countless hours toward all of the improvements. As a nonprofit, the group also can apply for grants, such as the Round-Up Grant they received from the Roseau Electric Cooperative to offset the cost of new lights, and a LifeCare Health Care Fund grant from LifeCare Medical Center in Roseau.
"We're so fortunate to have this community help us out," Stoe said. "It's not only the community — it's the town, the state and just whoever pitches in just a little bit.
"All those little bits over time add up to a lot."
In many ways, bringing Ross Rink back from the brink also is a nod to the past. Seeing lights at the rink on a winter night was like the "Bat Signal" when he was growing up, said Lee, the co-president, referring to the "Batman" TV series and movies.
Lee grew up just down the road from the rink.
"There were usually seven or eight of us out here almost every night," Lee said. "I'd look out my driveway and it was like, 'Oh, there's some people down at Ross.' I'd hop on my snowmobile and drive to the rink with my skates on and skate guards."
Once they graduated from high school, though, interest in the rink waned.
"We had a pretty long stretch where the bus barely even came up here anymore," said Mark Elton, who's also on the board.
Now, interest and participation is back on track, driven by the leadership and efforts of Ross Community Rink and Rec.
"Before, you'd maybe hear from the same three people every year asking about what's going on at Ross," Elton said. "Now, just about everybody wants to get involved and asks what's going on.
"There's a lot more interest, it seems."
As interest in the rink grows, board members say they'll continue working to uphold the nonprofit's mission statement: "To improve and maintain the Ross Rink and grounds through donations and volunteer efforts. The Ross Community Rink and Rec will strive to provide a place for area kids to play, skate and enjoy the outdoors."
Down the road, there's potential for a second rink, using boards donated by the city of Williams, Minnesota, in neighboring Lake of the Woods County, board members say. Plexiglas for the new boards and perhaps an indoor bathroom also are among future goals.
"As of now, we'll just try to keep things going and evolving a little bit each year," Stoe said. "We'll see how things pan out."
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