“The previous town manager, Al Leonard, and I were discussing that many communities that have memorable Christmas traditions center them around an ice-skating rink. We’d already been calling ourselves Twinkle Town Tabor City because so many businesses decorated, so I went on a search for a rink.

The City of Dobson had one for sale, including skates, for a third of what a new one would cost. The mayor and town council were supportive, and we received two Community Grants from BEMC, so we were off to the races.

Kim Edwards and Terry Brown, owners of the wreath and décor business Two Broke Teachers, donated and decorated everything! Town Manager Josh Ward and I rolled up our sleeves and Public Works set the rink up and cleaned it each night. Thanks to Councilman Kelly Beck, who is the principal at South Columbus High School, we partnered with the National Beta Club Honor Society, and their teachers and students manned the rink and we gave them half the gate.

Our evening Christmas parade is the biggest in the county with more than 300 homemade floats, so we decided to link the two. The parade is always the first Thursday in December, so we had the parade, then Santa, then opened the ice-skating rink. We decided to keep it open Thursdays – Sundays for three weeks in December, thus the 12 Days of Christmas on Ice! We even had a theme for each of the 12 nights, including a Date Night and Girls’ Night Out.

The synthetic rink is what professional hockey players train on when they live in warmer climates, so it’s really authentic feeling. It’s been such a huge success, with church groups, kids birthday parties, people coming from surrounding counties, and everyone having such a good time! We intentionally keep it affordable, $5 per person, and $3 for 12 and under, for 30 minutes on the ice. And on New Year’s Eve, for the Yam Drop, skating is free from 6-8 pm! We have kid-focused fun with free games and a s’mores bar with s’more kits for sale. So come celebrate the season all month with your family and friends and make some great memories!