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Created on Wednesday, 29 September 2021 14:18

Written by Hailey Morgan

LYNDON - This year's Rinktoberfest auction was a community event hosted by non-profit Rink Inc in an effort to keep Fenton Chester Arena from being closed down. Many community members attended the fundraiser Saturday night to show their support.

Last season Fenton Chester Arena did not open due to Covid. The Rink Inc Board wanted to make sure that the rink opened this year because it's a huge community resource. "Both of my sons have played hockey since they were about this big when they were three. My oldest son is nineteen. He graduated high school and played all the way through. My youngest son is fourteen, and this will be his final year of youth hockey in this rink. Then he'll also play high school hockey." Said parent Denise Montgomery, she says most of the people coming down to support the event are parents themselves to kids that play.

The team has taken over the arena after Lyndon Institute's five year lease expired. In fear that students in the area would not have a place to play. A go fund me page was created in June of 2021 where the group asked for thirty five thousand dollars. To pay for start-up and initial operating costs. They exceeded that goal to thirty seven thousand dollars. The goal for the auction was to raise twenty thousand dollars and by the end of the night everything was sold.

"It's kind of a unique situation in that the next closest rink is an hour away. To try to find ice time, you know you can't have a little kid trying to skate at ten o'clock at night and then drive an hour back. So we really need this," auctioneer Matt Young said. He says the 41 year old rink is a great spot for kids in the community, and they do not want to see it go.

Items donated for the auction were donated by many Vermont businesses, and some out of the state. Over two hundred plus people attended the event, after the auction Rink Inc is confident they will be able to make back a profit for the season. "It's really expensive at a certain point and time, which is like October. So it requires whoever is operating it to put forward a lot of money in October and then expect to earn that money back throughout the season. That was really difficult last year with covid," Board member Eli Emerson said.

The plan is to put the ice down in the next couple of weeks, and as the season goes on the Rink Inc team will be continuing with renovations. As of now, their big project is putting in some new lights.