QuadWorks hosted an ice skating rink event on Friday, Jan. 16 in the Stetson Hall parking lot with a "Skating Into the New Year" theme. Despite the weather hovering around the mid-40s, QuadWorks partnered with Neon Entertainment to provide an ice-like surface to skate on.
The company provided large square puzzle tiles of synthetic ice to skate on, a range of real ice skates and a speaker to play music on. Aieron Sanders said setting up the synthetic ice was a long, but simple process that started around 3 p.m., just three hours before the event started.
Nia McGill '27, a QuadWorks special events committee member, said the organization has done a similar “Rolling Into the New Year” event with roller skates instead of ice skates in the past, and added that she hopes both events can occur in the future. McGill also said that QuadWorks had worked with Neon Entertainment in the past as a trusted vendor.
“It’s Georgia cold but it’s still cold, so why not do skating into the new year instead,” McGill said. “It was really cool that they had it.”
The event drew a large crowd and a long line formed as people waited to for pairs of skates.
Ellen Han '29, who had skated before Friday, said that the synthetic ice felt harder than actual ice, especially when pushing off to skate. Rowena McKeogh ‘29 echoed that sentiment, and said she felt a noticeable difference between synthetic and real ice. McKeogh said she found the synthetic ice to be easier to maneuver on, compared to real ice, which she said makes it “harder to walk, and more challenging to find your balance.”
For those without experience wearing ice skates, the slick plastic offered an opportunity to skate for the first time. A QuadWorks member of the special events committee, Ishaan Merchant '28, helped them with their balance and movement on the synthetic ice as they gave skating a go.
Merchant has ice skated for two years.
“It makes me feel a lot happier that people are learning how to skate and asking me for help,” Merchant said, “Overall, it’s a good experience learning how to ice skate.”
Editor's note: Staff writer Ryleigh Sandefur contributed reporting to this story.
