Above: St. Mark’s School is celebrating its town history by inviting the community to a social on their skating pond. (Image from event flyer)
St Mark’s School and Fay School announced a venue change for their community celebration on January 4.
The schools had hoped for an old fashioned pond skating event. The celebration is in honor of their 150th year as part of the Southborough Community.*
But the weather hasn’t cooperated. So it will be moved indoors to Gardener Rink:
Bring your family for skating and goodies at St. Mark’s Gardner Rink on Sunday, January 4th from 12-2pm.
Also at Gardner Rink from 2-4pm there will be a friendly 4-on-4 “shinny” tournament. Bring a team or join one at the event. (Helmets required)
The rink is inside Michele Athletic Facility at St. Mark’s School. It can be accessed off School Street (map).
*As I previously posted, St. Mark’s School was established by Joseph Burnett in 1865. Technically, Fay School will turn 149 this year. But it’s close enough for their purpose, celebrating community roots.
Can’t help but note that Fay School was started by two of Joseph Burnett;s daughters– Eliza Belle Burnett Fay and Harriet Mrcella Burnett, who, with their father’s financial support, opened a school for younger children in the middle of town. (As far as I know, it is still the oldest elementary boarding school in the country.)
When St. Mark’s opens the rink for “community skating” they should really make sure that they convey that message to their students. This weekend their “community skating” time saw a hoard of St. Mark’s students monopolizing one of the goals for the entire “pucks and sticks” time. There should be someone at the rink to make sure that the time is used by Southborough residents in a recreational way and not the hockey team and their friends pushing out residents, both children and adults.
Also, residents should respect that the rink time is for everyone and not bring in a private group to take over one side of the rink.
You would think that common courtesy and common sense would make “policing” of this event unnecessary, but it seems not.
It’s unfortunate that you had an unpleasant experience this weekend. I can’t speak to that – but can say that you may have a better experience this coming Sunday. Since the 2-4 section is for 4 on 4 tournaments, I would expect there to be some “policing” of that.