For the second year in a row, Santa Claus strapped on his skates and took to the ice with local kids at the Stettler Recreation Centre.
Skate with Santa, held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, attracted more than 100 kids to the arena, and organizers said they were pleased with the early turnout.
“It was pretty steady from 11 to 2,” said Michelle Duchscherer, a front desk employee at the Recreation Centre. “From 2 o’clock on, it slowed right down.”
Plenty of activities were available on the rink surface, including bean bag toss and ring toss games, a relay race, tic-tac-toe and a shoot-the-puck competition.
Kids could also grab a rod and try fishing for candy canes, while those looking to express themselves artistically could take a brush and paint a design on the ice.
“We had a lot of kids playing shinny hockey as well,” said Duchscherer.
Though she was happy with the response, Duchscherer added, “I think next year we’re just going to cut it back to 11 till 2.”
Free hot dogs and hot chocolate were served, and organizers said that close to 200 hot dogs were consumed. Prizes were also available to be won.