Kathy Fuller remembered the days in high school when she would go to winter carnivals in Franklin and skate along the ice rink in Odell Park. Children held their parents’ hands to keep themselves from falling, older kids sported hockey sticks and helmets to scrimmage and friends skated side by side along the rectangular rink.
That was all back in the late 1950s. Odell Park, opened in 1909, expanded with a playground, a baseball field and a walking trail, while dirt and loam built up along the skating rink. It hasn’t been used since 1992.
Fuller wanted to change that. Since the start of the year, she and a group of community volunteers have worked to bring ice skating back to Odell Park, raising thousands of dollars and collecting over 100 pairs of skates to make it accessible to everyone.
“It’s just heartwarming to see people using it,” she said.
Last January, Fuller drove by Odell Park on Bow Street and saw two young men on the frozen Winnipesaukee River. Worried they or others might be in danger of cracking the ice, she made a Facebook post urging people not to step onto the icy river.
Sometime later, she received a message from one of the men on the ice that day. He expressed that he was trying to find a large, safe part of the ice so his children could skate on it. No other dedicated ice skating areas exist in Franklin.
This is how the idea spurred in Fuller’s head to bring ice skating back to Odell Park. She became the treasurer of the newly formed Franklin Parks and Recreation Volunteers Committee dedicated to revitalizing the rink.
Fuller said the man she saw on the ice that day “is now actively involved in helping our volunteers, and is a part of the maintenance of our skate park, and fully intends to get his youngsters over there skating this winter.”
The committee raised $3,200 within its first week. Now, that amount is over $44,000. Fuller said most donations were from members of the community or people like her who enjoyed skating at Odell when they were younger.
“I have heard, interestingly enough, from a huge amount of alumni from the schools … they’re paying more and more attention,” she said. “Some of these residents are [from] California, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina who have donated.”
Fuller said they have received over 100 pairs of skates that people donated from their storage spaces or from purchases at flea markets and garage sales. Fuller said people are more than welcome to bring their own skates but want to give options for those who can’t afford them.
“We’d like to make sure that any kid who wants to skate has access to a pair of skates,” she said. “So the more donations we receive, the better, just to have a stash that we can loan out, hopefully as needed by these kids.”
The rink will have a grand opening on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. The rink will be open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 10 a.m to 6 p.m. on weekends, with weather permitting, until March.