Ice Fever at Aa-broeken

Friday, 3-February-2012 - Veghel - I was up at 0700. After coffee with Marij, I did my morning exercises. I didn't want to break anything today. After breakfast and a shower, got my gear together. I remembered that I had my summer skating protection that I could use for my knees and elbows. I rode my bike to the Aa-broeken. When I got there, I was happy to see that the entrance gate was open. That meant that Gemeente Veghel had announced that that the ice was safe for all to skate. I was on the ice at 1030, and I started to warmup when volleyball teammates Hans and Ron showed up to play hockey. I've been coming here over the past 36 years, and this was the best ice ever! We had 15000 square meters (260 x 60 meters) almost four acres) of super smooth ice to ourselves. Hans and Ron headed back to Uden after two hour of fun. I skated for another two hours to practice my puck handling skills. In just two hours, there were 300 people on the ice! The laughter of school children returned me to my youth. Snow was now coming down pretty good as predicted--10 cm was expected. We had to make sure the snow got cleared as soon as possible to ensure skating fun for the coming week. As I left the park, I spoke to Marcel van Kempen, Veghel Rotary coordinator. I volunteered to help clear the snow--I really had ice fever. pics (62) volleyball skater school children--Skating on Aa-broeken Ice