I learned how to ice skate at the Winter Lodge in 1970, I then went on to play Mite Hockey at Eastridge for two years. Due to the few rinks in the area and the time of practice my organized hockey career stopped there. I did however continue to ice skate once or twice a year at Valco or the Winter Lodge. Around twenty years ago I saw in the "Venture" section of the SJ Merc. and advertisement for skate and shoot/pick up hockey at Valco. I always wanted to see what it was like to try out ice hockey again and have been doing so for the better part of two decades. I always tell people I play against, proudly, that I learned to skate at the Winter Lodge. Today I saw that it opened on my birth date, though some time earlier.

The Winter Lodge is definitely a gem in our community but it looks as if it had its challenges in the past.

Having attended a few parties here in the past couple of years I am always impressed at the atmosphere, the ambience and the friendliness here. Kudos to the staff and management for making this happen and hopefully will continue to do so for many years.