Gifted to the community in 1969 by Charles M. Schulz, Snoopy’s Home Ice, a.k.a. the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, is often called one of the most beautiful in the county. It plays host to the annual Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament.
My uncle, Stanley Tucci, was a fabulous speed skater. My late mother, his sister, was a deft figure skater. I am from a skating and skiing family. Uncle Stanley encouraged my skating before kindergarten—at 3, I’m told. Starting on “double runners,” I graduated to single blades quickly under my uncle and mother’s tutelage. Learning was especially fun when I was held under the armpits, my uncle zipping me along, my feet dangling at ice level until I got the hang of pushing off and gliding on my own.
Hans Brinker was a hero. I dreamed of being Hans. I envied Hans’ skating long distances on frozen canals. I thrilled to my mother’s stories of the Bronx River freezing during Depression years when people could skate from one town to the next. Once in seventh grade, a crust of ice formed on a deep snow. The ice was thick enough that kids could carefully skate on it. That was all the invitation my brother (third grade), Tommy Fitzgerald and I needed to skate through the woods from one town to another: Peekskill to Cortlandt, 1.5 miles. We never told our parents—no cell phones. We just skated off through the woods. We let a few mates know we intended to skate from Lake Mitchell to Lounsbury Pond.
We didn’t actually know the way. We never walked it. Snow-blanketed trails. We just knew it was generally “that way.” It was an audacious adventure, skating up and down hills through the woods. We were no longer at the rink when my parents came to fetch us. My parents were told we skated into the woods, hadn’t been seen for hours and might be found at Lounsbury. Found we were, and except for a reprimand to never do that again—all was well. What an escapade!
FUN FACTS: Actor Stanley Tucci is my cousin. Perhaps locals saw him as a special correspondent for the Winter Olympics on NBC and Peacock’s opening ceremonies broadcast? His father, my Uncle Stanley, was spectacular on speed skates. He flew. One time, he screeched to a hockey-stop halt with speed skates, dramatically covering my puffy snow-suit like a Hawaiian shaved-ice cone. Startling and thrilling.
All skates are sharpened with a “hollow round” concave bottom surface. The hollow round aids turning and stopping. The flatter the bottom, the faster the glide. Professionals dial in the best compromise for weight, skating style and sport. Ideal figure skating, hockey and speed skating ice temps differ—figure: 25-29; hockey: 22-25; speed: 20-21 degrees Fahrenheit.
