lo r d o f t h e r in k s

Iowa ice brings together a

neighborhood each year

A big part of the reason Dan Hickey and his wife, Jennie,

bought their house in Des Moines, Iowa, was for the

half-acre lot that came with it. It was highly unusual to find

that kind of space to roam right in town.

What he didn’t know was that his neighbor had a holiday

tradition that would affect Dan’s life to this day. That neighbor

was in the habit of building askating rink in his equally large

backyard as soon as the weather turned cold enough.

“I helped him for a couple of years, and my kids skated on

it and we all had a great time,” Dan says.

One spring, after the thaw, Dan helped his neighbor take

down all the boards and pull up the liner at the bottom. It

was the least he could do for all the enjoyment his family

had had that winter. Or so he thought.

“The next morning, I woke up and all the boards were in

my yard,” says Dan. And so was the box of

50

-odd pairs of

skates that the neighbor had collected over his time as

keeper of the ice. He had decided it was time to pass the

tradition on. That was fouryears ago.

Nowadays, Dan and his two sons, Sam and Clay, begin

putting the rink together at the beginning of December.

Then they watch the weather. When it freezes, they begin

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