PORT ANGELES — The Winter Ice Village is extremely popular when it comes to attendance, but that has not extended to people rushing to volunteer at the seasonal skating rink in downtown Port Angeles.
“We are definitely in need of volunteers,” said Leslie Robertson, events manager for the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the nonprofit that runs the Winter Ice Village.
“We have had people signing up and not showing up, and we’ve had people signing up who are too young for the jobs they signed up for.”
Roberts said that volunteers are needed in all four areas: selling tickets, renting skates, working in the snack shack and as on-ice safety monitors (for which you are not required to know how to skate).
Volunteers are especially needed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons when the Winter Ice Village is the most crowded.
“Having it be extra busy and having the volunteers not show up has made it extra challenging,” Robertson said.
In return for their four-hour shifts, each volunteer receives a free skate ticket that can be used at any time or given to a friend or family member to use.
Volunteers must be at least 14 years old to work in the skate rental; 16 years old to work in the snack shack or as an on-ice monitor; and 17 to take tickets.
Those who don’t meet the age requirements can still volunteer if they are accompanied on their shift by an adult, Robertson said.
“People love the rink and they love coming here and I would hope that they would consider just doing one shift,” Robertson said. “If everybody did that, we’d be covered.”
Robertson said that one of the goals of the Winter Ice Village is to make skating as accessible to as many people as possible by keeping prices low. Tickets for one day of skating, which include skate rental, did not increase this year (ages 3-12 $10/day; ages 13 and up $15/day).
The cost of operating the rink comes from proceeds from ticket and concession sales and support from local businesses. Monies earned above the costs of operation are dedicated to improvements to the rink and purchasing equipment.
“If we’re going to sustain the rink and keep it going, we have to have the community buy-in by helping us out with volunteering because it’s the only way we can afford to do it,” Robertson said.
To sign up to volunteer, go to the Winter Village website at: tinyurl.com/yybtuwjy
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at Paula.Hunt@soundpublishing.com.
