January 4, 2012 at 2:30 p.m.
Rhinelander Ice Association gets a Zamboni
Rhinelander Ice Association gets a Zamboni
The Rhinelander Ice Association, with assistance from Rhinelander GM/Toyota has purchase an electric Zamboni 552 which made its debut at this week at the RIA.
Zamboni is to ice resurfacing machines as Band-Aid is to bandages and Kleenex is to facial tissue. But the RIA had a different brand over the last few years, a Finland-made UKKO Ice Cat.
RIA manager Brett Aylesworth said that he stumbled upon an offer he could not refuse with the new Zamboni.
"We were able to find an incredible deal on this machine and we got it at a good price, which allowed us to upgrade," he said. "We were kind of looking to make the move because our current one is a foreign make, made in Finland. Sometimes it's difficult to obtain parts and parts are rather expensive."
Aylesworth expects the Zamboni will equal or surpass the performance of the Ice Cat.
"An ice rink's product is ice," he said. "So the better ice you can make, the better off you are. This machine should give us a consistent nice sheet of ice. The Zamboni, everyone's familiar with it. There is a dealer in Somerset that can help us repair it. The main thing is, it will make an awesome sheet of ice. It looks awesome with a nice green and white paint scheme."
Shimkus Auto Body supplied the paint scheme for the new resurfacer and Northland Orthopedics, which was a major sponsor of the old Ice Cat, will have its decal on the Zamboni as well.
As for the old Ice Cat, Aylesworth is looking for a buyer.
"We have it on the market to sell," he said. "We anticipate that hopefully we are able to sell it and get some money back out of it to invest on this new one. We don't have a buyer right now, but certainly looking for one and hope to find one."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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