Snowy suds make it feel like Christmas. Photo by Pete Zamplas.
By Pete Zamplas- Life is going around in circles — for plenty of fun — on a skating rink in Downtown Hendersonville for the rest of this week and on New Year’s Day.
The synthetic ice 40-by-30-foot rink is on part of the Visitor’s Information Center parking lot, at 201 S. Main St.
The rink will be open daily and even on Saturday, New Year’s Eve for the usual 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hours are 1-5 p.m. on New Year’s Day, as they were on Christmas. The rink has stayed open late such as to 9:30 p.m., when customer traffic keeps flowing and volunteers stay on.
Night skating has extra illumination from fire at a pit. Marshmallow s’mores are roasted in that pit. Other concessions include snacks and hot chocolate, to further raise money and as part of local Home for the Holidays activities. There are no food trucks, to avoid competing with local eateries so they might benefit from people visiting downtown, organizer Mia Freeman said.
Some stride mightily, on the synthetic ice. Photo by Pete Zamplas.
This unique holiday family activity treat is a benefit for the non-profit America In Bloom Committee. The Ohio-based national awards program rates communities on “what they do with what they have.” The skating is organized by the group’s local head, Freeman, a Hendersonville merchant.
The Henderson County Tourism Development Authority paid for three-fourths of the rink and equipment rental totaling over $18,000, she said, while she and her group covered the rest.
TDA was a catalyst to launch the program, but plans to step aside next year, she said. Thus, it will be riskier for Freeman and the Bloom group to go alone and she will weigh it largely on this trial run’s turnout.
A bigger rink might cost nearly double that, she said, but is an option if there is an overwhelming response to this trial run. Freeman said ice hockey players from the area called asking if they could play the sport on the rink. She might allow for that next year, needing a larger rink than the one used now which holds 40 skaters at a time or in addition to it if cost-effective enough.
Some fashion their own style of skating, on the rink downtown. Photo by Pete Zamplas.
Two hour time slots sold out to capacity, in the first two days, Freeman said. Other times it was half-full, with plenty of space for skaters to do laps and avoid each other. Attendance was 125 for the first day and second day as of 7 p.m.
The fee is $8 per adults and $5 per children, for a 45-minute session often starting at the top of the hour. That covers rental of skates, or else booties for those wanting to walk on the surface but not skate. Freeman said most skaters did one session. She hopes many return during the activity’s two-week run.
The EZ Glide all-weather synthetic ice is polymer — a thin plastic that skate blades can penetrate for traction better than actual ice — topped by slick silicon for gliding which is reapplied between sessions, volunteer Michael Arrowood noted. He helps coordinate special events for TDA. He has sprayed snow-like suds onto skaters, as they gathered to him near the end of their session. The surface can still be skated on during rain, and is not chilled.
More than 30 volunteers also help in such ways as cleaning skate blades, handling tickets and skate rentals, and getting waiver forms signed for youths younger than 18. The nearby Wells Fargo bank branch is among businesses with some workers volunteering, such as with tickets.
Falls lead to laughs, for skaters of various ages. Photo by Pete Zamplas.
Andrew Schultz, 12, was among prolific skaters Dec. 21, the second day. He easily changed directions. He learned skating basics while living in D. C. He said the local rink access “helps you learn to skate better.”
Metal fencing borders the rectangular rink. To deter people sneaking onto the rink after hours, it has security lighting and extra police patrol, Freeman noted. Volunteers monitor rink behavior. She is impressed that as of press time, rink decorum was strong as skaters did not purposely smash into each other.
Those who slipped on their own and fell typically grinned, and tried again to learn to skate. Many skaters too breaks during a session, to pace energy.
The two-week attraction began Dec. 20. It is typically busiest from 3 p.m. on, Freeman said, but is actively used most of the day with children out of school. A slow hour of 10 a.m. is promoted for groups; the fee is $1 off per person with 10 or more in the group.
Slipping doesn’t deter this lad. Photo by Pete Zamplas.
EZ Glide is made by Ice Rink Engineering and Mfg., LLC, of Greenville, S. C., which is among few nearby cities that have skating during these holidays, and has shipped its rinks to New York City and also L. A. for year-round use, Freeman said.
Freeman owns two downtown shops, near the Historic Courthouse. Mia’s Marketplace features “vintage collectibles” in 14 shops, and is at 241 N. Main (698-4600). Nearby is her Black, White and Jeans boutique (595-9818).
She acted in Tom Orr’s historic play Unwrapping Local History, portraying a townsperson in various decades of the last century and narrating about Brock’s as a teen hangout in the Fifties.
For group reservations, call Mia Freeman at 768-4413. For more info on the skating, call her or TDA’s Visitor Center at 693-9708. For more on the skating fundraiser’s beneficiary, check AmericainBloom.org.

Similarity rank: 1.1

Sentiment rank: 11.2

© Source: http://www.thetribunepapers.com/2016/12/28/hendersonville-skating-rink-open-through-new-years-day/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

They fought on, and on, and on, and on.
As a darkly clouded afternoon became a chilly night in Pasadena Monday, the USC football team fought Penn State for a Rose Bowl championship that seemed continually out of reach.
The Trojans fought through breathtaking Nittany Lions scores, limb-twisting Nittany Lions tackles, and a two-touchdown deficit with less than a dozen minutes remaining in the game.
They fought through deafening noise from thousands of white-clad Penn State fans, a brutal ankle injury to their most explosive player, and yellow penalty flags that constantly fluttered at their feet.
They fought with jabs from a kid quarterback, roundhouses from acrobatic receivers and knockdowns by giant linemen.
They fought and fought and then, in their final breaths they hit Penn State with a force that USC football lore will remember forever.
Sam Darnold tossed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Deontay Burnett with one minute 20 seconds remaining to tie the score. Moments later, Leon McQuay III intercepted a lofted pass from Penn State’s Trace McSorley.
Then, with the stunned Trojans nation holding its collective breath, Matt Boermeester sent them into full scream by kicking a 46-yard field goal as time ran out to give USC a 52-49 victory in arguably their greatest Rose Bowl victory ever.
“If that’s not the definition of ‘Fight On,’ I don’t know what is,’’ said Coach Clay Helton, barking out the Trojan slogan as he stood red-faced amid the postgame madness.
Even before the ball sailed through the uprights, the confident Boermeester turned his back and began running toward the far end of the field. Soon he was followed by sprinting, dancing teammates who were quickly engulfed in hugs and confetti.
“It still doesn’t feel like we won,’’ said nose tackle Stevie Tu’Ikolovatu, the game’s defensive MVP. “This was the scariest, then the craziest.’’
This was enough to bring a 6-foot-9, 360-pound man to his knees, as Trojans tackle Zach Banner watched the field goal, fell to the wet grass and dissolved in tears.
USC makes its 33rd Rose Bowl appearance, facing Big Ten conference winner Penn State.
“I’m on the ground and feeling feelings that I don’t know how to describe,’’ he said. “I cried my ass off.’’
This also brought several players to the front of the Trojans band, where they directed the fight song with both the sword and the Rose Bowl trophy while teammates surrounded them with eyes wide with disbelief.
“It’s unreal, it feels fake right now,’’ receiver De’Quan Hampton said. “It feels like a dream.’’
The reality is that with this win, USC emerged from eight years in the probation-cluttered wilderness to become a force in college football again. A Trojans team that began this season with a 1-3 record and Helton on the coaching hot seat has finished with nine consecutive victories and an aura that few other teams can match.
There are probably only two teams that would be favored against USC if they played next week, and both of them, Clemson and Alabama, are playing for the national championship.
“If we’re not back, I don’t know who is,’’ said Willie McGinest, a former Trojans great who was walking the sidelines. “Being without all our scholarships, being undermanned for so many years, then to finish like this, it’s very special.’’
It’s time to rewrite much of the Rose Bowl record book after USC and Penn State combined for 101 points in the Trojans’ thrilling 52-49 win Monday.
Here’s a look at some of the records that fell and other top-10 performances:
Individual:
USC quarterback Sam Darnold’s five touchdown passes are a…
It’s time to rewrite much of the Rose Bowl record book after USC and Penn State combined for 101 points in the Trojans’ thrilling 52-49 win Monday.
Here’s a look at some of the records that fell and other top-10 performances:
Individual:
USC quarterback Sam Darnold’s five touchdown passes are a…
They finished by winning their record 25 th Rose Bowl, the most victories by any college team in any bowl. They finished by winning a game featuring the highest combined score in Rose Bowl history, with Darnold throwing the most touchdown passes — five — in Rose Bowl history while the freshman also finished with a Rose Bowl record 473 total yards.
But the Trojans very nearly didn’t finish anything. Like the kid said, before crazy, there was scary.
USC led 27-21 at halftime but then was stunned by a 79-yard touchdown run by Penn State’s Saquon Barkley in which he broke six tackles. That was followed moments later by a tipped pass that Penn State receiver Chris Godwin turned into a 72-yard touchdown pass.
There’s more. On the next Trojan possession, a Penn State interception led to a three-yard McSorley run that gave the Nittany Lions a 42-27 lead. That’s 21 unanswered Penn State points in less than three minutes, and the Trojans seemed done.
Except for, you know, all that “Conquest’’ business.
“I don’t know if it was the man upstairs, I don’t know what it was,’’ Banner said. “But I’m not going to call it a miracle, because we earned everything we got, we earned getting here, we earned winning the game, we earned this.’’
They earned it with a soaring sideline catch by JuJu Smith-Schuster, diving grabs by Burnett, and third-down backfield tackle by Michael Hutchings, and a renewed urgency after star Adoree’ Jackson hobbled off the field in the third quarter with a right ankle injury.
Defensive backs don’t last long — not in major college football, not in any kind of football — unless they have exceedingly short memories.
So Leon McQuay III could not spend more than a moment or two kicking himself over the nearly certain interception he had just let slip through his hands.
With…
Defensive backs don’t last long — not in major college football, not in any kind of football — unless they have exceedingly short memories.
So Leon McQuay III could not spend more than a moment or two kicking himself over the nearly certain interception he had just let slip through his hands.
With…
“I hugged him and I said, ‘We’re going to win this game for you,’’’ safety Chris Hawkins said.
In the end, who would have thought the game would actually be won by a junior-college transfer who had not made a kick for USC until this season, who had not made a game-winning kick all season, and had missed two kicks earlier in the game?
Boermeester, that’s who.
“I wasn’t too concerned with the distance,’’ Boermeester said. “Wherever it was at, I was kicking it.’’
Translated? “We have dudes on this team who have ice-cold water in their veins,’’ Hawkins said.
The ball punched through the goal posts, through the chilly night air, and accompanied by a cardinal-clad crowd whose roar will be remembered through history, a new USC football era has begun.
“It’s like the ripple in the pond,’’ Banner said. “You know when you the drop the rock and the ripple starts? We are that rock.’’
Goodness, what a splash.
The Rams blew a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter to fall to the San Francisco 49ers, 22-21, for the second time this season.
–
Sierra Canyon receiver JJ Hernandez
The St. John Bosco Braves win in frigid conditions.
The St. John Bosco Braves win in frigid conditions.

Similarity rank: 3.4

Sentiment rank: 5.6

© Source: http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-usc-rose-bowl-plaschke-20170102-story.html
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.