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With a rink, seasons also change, and I thought I would direct the next few articles to the off-seasons of the old rink, when it played another role in our lives.

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Early in spring the ice would start to be removed — in those days a boring task — and Russell Parks would haul it out the front door and it would be piled on the parking lot waiting for the warm sun of spring to melt it away.

Again the "Beaver" came through. In those days, most times a rink had a sand floor with a black iron pipe system buried in it, but the good old Sinclair Rink ended up with one of the first cement floors with a trap rock surface, which allowed for roller skating. Again, this was a floor donated by the Beaverbrook Foundation, and it extended the role of the building in the community.

The first new activity offered on the rink floor was roller skating — I am not sure of the start date, but in all probability it was in the early 60s. This meant that you could go to the rink and rent roller skates and then spend a summer evening impressing everybody with how poor a skater you really were. Of course, if you happened to be one of the really good skaters, the boot roller skates were available, and that was really impressive. Skating went on every summer in the old rink, usually from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday evenings, and it would be bumper-to-bumper rollerskaters, with the PA system blaring out the Rock 'n' Roll music of the time.

I find it hard to believe for 10 years it was so popular that not many kids on the old river missed roller skating at the Sinclair Rink. Later it seemed to fall out of popularity, made a brief comeback in the 80s, and then was gone forever.

Summer use of the arena also created the opportunity for a lot of the lovers of Rock 'n' Roll to practice their musical skills and create some great bands in the community, which entertained us thoughout our teens at the traditional teen dances held at the Sinclair Rink on those Friday and Saturday evenings. I really can't imagine anybody who grew up on the river who wouldn't remember those great summers of Rock 'n' Roll at the Sinclair rink. I think the witness to this today is the tremendous success of the reunion dances held at the Miramichi Civic Centre each year during the Rock 'n' Roll festival. People seem to come from far and wide to gather at the rink and reflect on the great friends and the great times we had in that old building. The physical characteristics may change, we may be a little heavier and we may be a little greyer, but the memory is still good and friends will always be friends and memories will always be there.

Again that old building, which stood us strong in our athletic endevours, also became our community centre. It allowed for young people to develop their musical skills, and a lot of other kids to just enjoy being teenagers and kids. I was only able to come up with one picture that reflected a little bit on those times — it is of the Saints and a few of their members who I am sure we all remember.

I have some corrections to make to my previous articles about sports in the community. First, I have been told that Chatham High School won the NBIAA Championship in 1964-65. That changed the time frame from the first to the second championship. Secondly, I had mentioned that one of the better figure skaters that I remember in the community was Dan Arsenault, and I understand he lives in Montreal today.