Sawyer Arena in Bangor, ME?

[visitor]

Does anyone know anything about this rink? I'm planning to move up there next year and this looks like the closest rink to where I'll be living (over an hour's drive--ugh!). Thanks!

[Mainemom]

The Sawyer Arena is affiliated with the Skating Club of Maine - they are our Penobscot Region. Check out the website at scmaine.org and click on Penobscot Region. The director is Tanya Quigley and she can provide you with more information on the ice schedule if you can't find what you need on the website.

You'd think, being in Maine, that we would have all sorts of ice - but you would be wrong! Our ice on the coast (Camden area) is only seasonal (Oct-March) and then we start trekking to either Augusta, Falmouth or Portland. There's ice in Brunswick, too.

[sk8lady]

Sawyer Arena is run by the city of Bangor and is open from about the third week of October until the third week of March each year. From October until high school hockey starts in mid-November, there is rink-run figure skating ice from 1:40-2:50 in the afternoon. There is public skating, which is sparsely attended except on weekends and holidays, from 12:30-1:30. I'm still using a pass from last year but I believe the cost is $3.00 on weekdays and $5.00 for public skating on weekends (not sure of this year's times). The staff is very friendly and they have the best ice in the area.

The Penobscot Region runs Basic Skills from 4:40-5:40 on Sunday nights from opening date till the end of February. From 5:50-6:50 we run an Intro to Freestyle class and the ice is also available for Basic Skills students needing lessons. From 7:00-8:00 we have club ice time.

The club does produce a show in March or April every year.

Just a warning: The Sunday ice is the only time coaches above my level (borderline Adult Bronze) are available. I travel to Augusta, about an hour and 20 minutes, for my lessons (and since I can't make their ice time on Monday nights I don't get a lesson every week).

Depending on what your level is and where in the state you're going to be, you may have to do some traveling to get lessons.

There is also a rink in Brewer, about 5 minutes from Bangor, which has been experimenting with being year-round ice, almost exclusively for hockey purposes. They are not particularly figure-skating friendly (as evidenced by the sign with a pretty picture of a figure skater that says "NO SPINNING OR JUMPING") although they will let us spin and jump if we're the only ones there.

Alfond Arena at the University of Maine has had public skating twice a week at noontime in the past--I haven't checked yet this year to see what they're doing. They do not have any figure skating ice.

Information about the club and the other regions of the Skating Club of Maine is available at scmaine.org.

If you need more information, you can PM me--I'm the chair of the Penobscot Region's steering committee.

Good luck!

[Sk8Dreamer]

Oh, this is all sort of depressing. I am moving to Steuben, on the coast--a decision made years ago and only now being acted upon, plus I am addicted to living on the water, but I didn't realize when we bought the property how hooked I'd get on skating. I guess I will either have to find some other activity I love as much...or learn to deal with driving long distances for it. Argh...

[sk8lady]

Sorry to deliver such a downer! The coastal region has been working on funding for a rink for quite a while but it hasn't quite come together yet.

A number of people do come in from the coast pretty regularly to skate in the Bangor area (hockey and figure)--sometimes they carpool so that might be an option.

Best of luck...