Isabel Mosseler
Tribune
Michel LaBelle has been posting photos of the roof being constructed over the Field rink for the last couple of months and finally, with a great sense of achievement and anticipation shared by so many local residents, this past weekend people have begun skating on the new surface, under the $1.2M structure. LaBelle is beaming with unrepressed joy. The volunteer fireman has been organizing the Field Winter Carnival hockey tournament for 6 years now, and this year the new rink will certainly be the centrepiece of the only remaining winter carnival in West Nipissing. This rink is very close to his heart, as he remembers his uncle Florian “Flo” Jarbeau maintaining the former rink for years. “I used to go there when I was a kid, all the time, many times alone, when my uncle ran the rink and would do the ice… He was so proud of it. He passed away but he’d be very proud of this.”
LaBelle, aged 30, was raised by a forward-thinking father, Denis LaBelle, Chief of the Field Fire Department, who never lost the vision of what an ice rink with a roof could do for the community of Field. This dream has been ongoing for almost 50 years, initiated in the 1970’s when the plan was to have an arena. While Michel has been posting the photos of the rink from excavation to final structure, there were some people questioning the expenditure, but he points out that since he was 6-years-old he recalls his dad and other community members working towards this goal. It did not happen overnight. “It was 30 years ago when we moved the rink here… My dad has been talking about this roof since I was a kid.”
If a generation can be calculated at 20 years, it’s taken three generations of people in Field to bring the vision to life. In 2016 a new committee was struck by the Field Recreation and Economic Development (FRED) group, called Raise the Roof, chaired by Julie Ann Bertram and loaded with volunteers, including Michel LaBelle. The hockey tournaments he organized were part of the ongoing fundraising effort. Finally, they can celebrate their achievement.
A grand opening is planned for January 26th, replete with dignitaries, the major funders, some of the old timers who were part of the original planning, now in their 80’s, and it’s expected that community members will come out in droves to celebrate. Fireworks are planned.
Denis LaBelle, smiling a lot these days, provides some perspective for those who might imagine this enterprise just dropped into the laps of the residents of Field. He also reminds that this rink is located in Field but is for all the residents of West Nipissing. “There was a group of people who wanted to start an arena in the 1970s, and they did a lot of work – they cut wood, sawed and sold it.” The fundraising was ongoing, but not enough. “It didn’t happen,” says Denis. “When I moved to Field in the 1980s, I joined that group… I was part of the fire department. The rink was in desperate need of repair at the time …So, we moved it [where it is now situated].” While the original plan was to build a full arena, “we ran out of money. We had enough money to build a new building [canteen and change rooms] and prepare the ground for a roof. So that ground had been prepared… We saved money that way. The foundation was there. It was sitting there for years.”
Denis LaBelle relates that Field was hard hit by a number of disasters and setbacks over the years: a flood, a tornado, the closing of the lumber mill, closing of the school, an aging population, an economy based on tourism with little interest in local winter life. Consequently, fundraising became a truly exhaustive effort. The fundraising group became somewhat discouraged. Some people drifted away, some passed away. Denis, however, never stopped being a firefighter dedicated to his community, and he aways kept the rink in his mind. “It never happened, and the [group] dismantled, they were tired. But I kept dreaming about it; for some reason I was holding on.”
The project was revived under a new group, but LaBelle does not forget those people who initiated the whole plan. “I would like to mention them because they are the ones who started the whole ball rolling about 30 years ago. They are old now, these guys, and there are still quite a few around, in their 80s, and they’ve talked to me about it. When we formed the new group in the 1980s (…), Pierre Langevin was the Reeve of Field, and he was part of that.” That group was sitting on the money raised over the years, the money went towards the new rink and the intent at the time was to put a roof over it.
What is so important about having this rink in Field? Denis LaBelle explains, “I always used to bring my kids to the rink, all the time, and I was getting frustrated because when we wanted to skate it was snowing, and when we could go it was -40. …In today’s world, without a roof, it’s hard to keep an outdoor rink. If you want to use it to capacity, you need something. …It started off with the arena in mind… we downgraded to a roof.” Reality had reared its head. “We started seeing roofs in other municipalities and said that would be a good idea… And then FRED came along.”
LaBelle saw the recreation and economic development group as a vehicle because they were registered and able to apply for funding. Other members such as Mario Rousseau and Ken Paquette were on the board of the Caisse populaire, and the Caisse had some funds to support a community endeavour. “They donate a lot of money and decided to choose Field that year for their project.” Boosted by that whopping $100,000 donation, LaBelle recalls thinking “It’s time for our roof! We brought it to the FRED committee, and they all jumped on the bandwagon. Yeah. And we decided to make another group called the Raise the Roof committee.”
Julie Ann Bertram was selected to chair the new committee. She says, “At a FRED meeting in 2017, we unanimously decided that a focused task force would be needed to raise the funds required to raise this roof. Five years later, grants, donations, and fundraisers got us to that goal. Part of our mission initially was to create a plan that would be used to help get us those grants and garner support. The roof isn’t only to be a help for the ice in winter, it is now an all-season space to be used for various purposes like a local farmer’s market, music venue, or basketball court!” She adds, “Our kids used the rink often, there were many days each winter that they’d have to try to shovel it off or wait until it was flooded again. Now, everyone can enjoy skating or a game of shinny regardless of the winter weather.” She concurs with Denis LaBelle’s telling of the story. “The idea for a covered rink had been around for a long time, so watching it finally happen through the efforts of many community members over many years is an inspirational experience.”
Denis LaBelle adds that there were many hurdles along the way. Just as they were gaining traction, COVID happened and prices kept going up. “COVID showed up, stalled everything. And the price went over the roof! Before COVID we were looking at $800,000.” With blood, sweat, tears, donations (including an additional $25,000 from the Caisse) and provincial funding, they raised the $800,000 but the goal post kept moving. The municipality kicked in the final amount needed to finish the project, with a final invoice in the $1.2M range. Denis Labelle says the municipality would have had to repair the rink at considerable cost in any case, so “They might as well have an investment that’s going to last for a while. And it’s multipurpose as well.”
