Ice skating rink debuts in Cooper River Park

Jackson Davis smiled and nodded in delight in response to his mother's question.

"Do you like to go fast?" Kristine Davis had asked her 4-year-old son as he prepared to enter the Pennsauken ice rink Friday afternoon.

The young boy's parents secured a black hockey helmet to his head before putting him on the Winterfest Ice Skating Rink at Cooper River Park. Before long, his small skates were kicking atop the ice as his father, Bryan, trailed behind in supervision.

"He does better than me," Kristine Davis, 40, of Oaklyn, said of her son, who takes weekly skating lessons.

Joining the Davises on the ice was a small crowd of people who also arrived just after noon to etch their blade marks into Camden County's first rink by the river. Christmas music poured from speakers as children and adults took to the 50- by 70-foot sheet of ice.

Some moved about the frozen pool quickly. Others hardly moved at all.

"Not sure why I decided to try this," Theresa Englehart, 38, said, laughing, as she clutched the red railing during her first ice skating attempt. She was visiting with friends.

"I was planning to watch," said Englehart, a yard dispatcher from Lindenwold. "That didn't happen."

Meanwhile, the first skater from the public to get on the ice at noon continued to glide with apparent ease.

"It's pretty good," said Jason Cohen, 9, of Marlton, sporting a Superman winter hat.

Officials ceremonially opened the rink - plus a carousel and food stand - Friday evening with a tree lighting.

"It's the fruit of a lot of hard work," said Frank Moran, director of the county Parks Department. "Everyone's raving about it.

"Next year will be bigger and better," added Moran, also Camden City Council president.

The county has spent about $130,000 to create Winterfest, in the center of Jack Curtis Stadium on North Park Drive. Officials hope to break even with admission ($4 for those 13 and older), skate rental fees ($3), and sponsorships. The season is set to end Jan. 6.

Other area outdoor rinks include one outside Philadelphia City Hall, in the new Dilworth Park. Another, near Rowan University in Glassboro, returned this week for a second season.

"Nothing says winter like outdoor skating," said Camden County Freeholder Jeffrey L. Nash. "If you add the music and the lights and hot chocolate, it's a great winter experience."

Visitors at the rink Friday said its location was a key attraction. Some recalled decades past when a gully-like, shallow part of the river was unofficially reserved for skating, before officials banned it due to safety and liability concerns.

"It was awesome," said Mark English, 39, who grew up in Cherry Hill. "You can't pond skate anymore, I guess."

English, now a Moorestown resident and county employee, took his two children to the rink Friday. "There's not many outdoor rinks around, so this is a good idea," he said. "It's the whole aura, being outside."