Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Opening weekend of Ice Skating Rink a smashing success

Opening weekend of Ice Skating Rink a smashing success

The opening of the territory’s first-ever synthetic ice-skating rink was considered a success as it welcomed in excess of a hundred patrons at the Virgin Islands Search & Rescue’s (VISAR) Winter Wonderland at the Cyril B Romney Tortola Pier Park throughout the weekend.

VISAR’s Executive Creative Director Julie Schneider told BVI News the demand to participate in the rink resulted in consecutive days of the activity being sold out.

She said due to the COVID-19 pandemic and protocols, a maximum of 20 persons are allowed per session which lasts for 30 minutes. After each skate, the rink undergoes a 15-minute turnover session which involves sanitary cleaning.

“We had about 80 people on the rink on Saturday throughout the four sessions and we booked a good amount of future sessions as well, and the age ranges were from about four years old to persons in their 60’s,” Schneider stated.

She added: “Last night we had four sessions and all of them were sold out and it was received really well. We had a parent and a child come off the rink and both responded it was so much fun. So the dad had just as much fun as the little one and I walked past a few patrons who said it’s just so nice to see kids smiling and having fun again.”

Booths doing well


In addition to the response to the rink, Schneider said the booths have also been reaping success with a lot of activity resulting from the flow of traffic.

“The merchandise booth; we did really well last night. It was really great to see the little kids walking around with the headbands on and the Santa hat … The merchandise booth has VISAR-branded gear like T-shirts and sweatshirts and holiday antlers and headbands. And then we have little craft kits that kids can view while they wait. The other booth starting next week will sell popcorn and cotton candy, and then Myett’s is doing refreshments.”

Goal to raise $100K for rescue vessel


The purpose of the fundraising event is to raise money for VISAR intended projects and initiatives which will benefit the people of the territory.

Schneider said proceeds from the rink and the booths will go towards securing a vessel intended for the sister island of Virgin Gorda.

“We had a different goal in mind before COVID and now with COVID, we are just happy to be able to bring the rink to the community and let them have a good time. We do have a balance of $100,000 left to pay for a rescue vessel for Virgin Gorda and anything that we make this year will be going towards that boat and we will be happy with any amount that we make,” she stated.

Businesses community chips in


The executive creative director further said the business community has also joined in to enhance the experience of the children. Their contribution comes in the form of a storytime session involving craft where a maximum of 20 children will be allowed to participate in the scheduled activities every Sunday for free.

“I think the first one is going to be a kid’s paint and sip, so they’ll be doing a scene out of one of the books that we read. The second week is Hanukkah. We’re going to be painting dreidels and then reading books about Hanukkah and playing dreidels at the end, and the third one is sponsored by CCT and they’re doing a whole Christmas thing. Then the last one is celebrating Quanta, and each of those events is sponsored by a particular business,” she explained.

The opening hours are from 2 pm to 7 pm on weekdays and from 2 pm to 10 pm on weekends.

The rink will be operating until Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×