26 rinks ready for competitors in New England Pond Hockey Classic

MEREDITH — Builders were hard at work Thursday morning, putting the finishing touches on an iced-over Meredith Bay, ahead of the 17th New England Pond Hockey Classic, expected to bring hundreds of teams and thousands of competitors and visitors to the Lakes Region through the weekend.

Bob houses, scattered across the icy landscape of Lake Winnipesaukee, provided temporary respite for those who've have spent most of the week out on the bay. They were close to finished Thursday morning, but preparations had been ongoing for weeks, and even months, as snow is cleared following each winter storm.

The tournament is set for Friday, Jan. 30, through Sunday, Feb. 1. Puck drop Friday is 8 a.m., and 275 teams and 2,200 competitors were slated to arrive by Thursday evening. The winners will leave the weekend with the coveted Lake Winnipehockey’s Cup.

Last year, the event returned to Meredith Bay after a brief period held on nearby Lake Waukewan because of ice conditions.

And, while the stage was all but set for Friday morning, the road organizers travel to get there is challenging, year after year.

Ben Long of tournament operations spent most of the week sleeping in a bob house on Meredith Bay, one of some two-dozen which pocked the ice Thursday morning, less than 24 hours ahead of the event. He’s been involved in the classic since its inception, and is a longtime friend and colleague of Scott Crowder, a Meredith resident who made it his mission to bring the event to town.

Build crews from Island Service Corporation and Interlakes Builders, both of Meredith, were hammering away at guard rails lining the perimeter of some 26 ice hockey rinks while listening to Pink Floyd. By 11 a.m. on Thursday, 17 were complete, and they expected to finish the remainder not long thereafter.

“It’s all obviously weather-dependent,” Long said atop a Kubota tractor, somewhere near the middle of the 15 acres he and others had spent long hours clearing ahead of the tournament. Cold temperatures since October worked to the tournament’s benefit — Long said ice conditions were good. “This time, that wasn’t a concern.”

Ashley Luscher, who is Long’s girlfriend, walked along the ice with Long’s nephew Owen Follansbee Thursday morning.

“And then the snow came,” she said regarding last weekend’s winter storm. They’ve been snowblowing since then, making way for the rinks. “For 24 hours, it’s been nonstop. He slept at home one night this week — it’s been crazy.”

The snow removal process must occur most years, but this year they’re dealing with nearly 2 feet, and those 2 feet dropped hard. It causes challenges, too, The weight of the snow can cause the ice to sink.

“It’s more time consuming, because it’s so deep,” Long said.

The snowfall pushed their schedule back by a day, but crews were working by 7 a.m. Thursday morning. After they finished creating the 26 rinks, they’d go in and sweep them, to give them a clean finish before the competition begins. 

“Things are going really well.  

“The event itself, seeing people playing and the comments that we get is why we do it,” Long said, when asked why he works to pull the event together each year, periodically responding to calls on a radio he kept affixed a winter jacket.

“It’s probably some of the most genuine winter fun in New England,” he said. “It’s one of the coolest ways" to spend time outside.

For Crowder, the willingness of the community, its residents and local businesses to pitch in and participate, means the world.

“It’s a big operation, we have a lot of moving parts,” he said. “It’s become a large-scale event over the last 17 years.”

Crowder said he’s been out on the ice at the bay for two or three weeks, working ahead of the tournament, and started into the job hard Sunday morning. They finished cleaning the venue Wednesday night.

Twin Rivers Landscaping of Holderness, and Breakthrough Property Services of Meredith, lent much-needed hands this year, Crowder said. Because of the snowstorm, they started loading in over just two days, when they’d typically take closer to a week.

“We showed up today with the ‘A-Team,’” he said. “They built 26 rinks in about four hours.”

Longstanding partnerships and relationships with people in Meredith help get the job done.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “We have an amazing community.

“I’m extremely grateful.”