It was a rare sight: children and adults, many of whom had never put on a pair of ice skates before, skating across an ice rink set up in the middle of a parking lot.
The ice rink was just one of the half-dozen winter-themed attractions set up by Massachusetts-based Artificial Ice Events for the first-ever Hertford on Ice event in downtown Hertford on Saturday, Feb. 17. Other attractions included a giant “bouncy” snowman, a “snow” maze, several giant slides, including a “Toboggan Tunnel” and “Snowzilla,” and, of course, vendor food.
Downtown Hertford, the town’s Main Street program, organized the all-day winter-themed event, both as a way to draw more visitors to the downtown and to give local residents something fun to do on a winter day. Given the steady stream of people pouring into the downtown on Saturday, the group seemed to accomplish both goals.
Susan Cox of Downtown Hertford on Tuesday estimated the crowd for Saturday’s inaugural Hertford on Ice at between 900 and 1,000. Hertford Town Manager Janice Cole said the event was “a financial success” and town officials hope to stage the event again next year.
Attendees of the first-ever Hertford on Ice said they were enjoying the event.
Sarah Branham, a resident of Hertford, was waiting with her kids in line near the Mr. Snowman bounce house. She said her kids were having a ball.
“We love it. It’s a great little theme,” Branham said. “The kids tried Snowzilla, the Toboggan Tunnel, and ice skating. It’s nice to have something different” to do.
“It’s a bit pricy, $125 for a family of five,” she said.
But she was pleased to have the option to purchase wristbands that allowed all-day access to the attractions.
Brenda Sessoms, a resident of Elizabeth City, said she and her granddaughter were enjoying themselves.
“She’s done everything: ice skating, she climbed the wall. I tried food from a vendor and my granddaughter got ice cream from Woodard’s Pharmacy,” Sessoms said. “We’ve been here about three hours and enjoyed it.”
Andrea Grumbles, a former Elizabeth City resident who now lives in Hertford, laughed when asked about the novelty of attending an outdoor winter event in a place where summer street festivals are more common.
“It’s a cold day for us but it’s a great event for the kids and for a small town,” she said.
Grumbles said she found the event reasonably priced.
“I think it is pretty cheap for all-day access,” she said. “We tried the Edenton fair back in the fall which lasted for a week. I like the idea of a Saturday event. I brought kids that are 9 and 11. They were glad to try this one out.”
Nayeli Corten said she came down for Hertford on Ice from Chesapeake, Virginia, at the suggestion of her sister, a Hertford resident. She brought with her her 9-year-old and 6-year-old. She said her son, who had never skated before, tried out the ice skating rink.
She found plenty to like about the event.
“It’s nice they have chairs so you can sit down when you need to,” she said. “They closed the streets so there is plenty of space to walk. The price was just right.”
After a morning of skating and sliding, Corten said she figured she and her children would try the food last.
Lynette Bowen, who lives in Chowan County, was attending Hertford on Ice with a group that included five adults and seven kids. Everyone was having a great time, she said.
“We tried the vendors’ food, they tried ice skating, took a break and jumped on inflatables and now they’ve gone back to ice skating,” Bowen said. “We love being outdoors but having an option during winter is a great thing.”
She also thought organizers had done a good job of advertising the event online. And turnout was just right, she said.
“I was concerned there would be too many people but this is perfect,” Bowen said.
Cox said on Saturday that volunteers played a big role in helping make the event a success.
“The high school football team came down this morning to help with set up. The PQ Ambassadors at the school, they’ve been here all day helping people sign up for waivers, and covering other event tasks,” she said. “The high school students have been good additions.”
Town workers also played a big role in helping with the event setup, Cox said.
“The public works department put in a tremendous number of hours days and weeks before, making sure we had everything we needed here,” Cox said. “For an event like this, it is just a big time effort from everybody involved.”
Hertford closed several streets to thru traffic on Friday, the day before the event, to accommodate the setup of the ice rink and other attractions. The closings included Church Street from the intersection of Grubb Street to the intersection of Dobbs Street. Also, Market Street was closed from the intersection of South Church Street to Covent Garden Street.
By mid-day on Saturday, Hertford Town Manager Janice Cole said she was confident organizers had accomplished their goal of giving residents a fun activity in the middle of winter. And that was with hours still to go. The event, which began at 10 a.m., didn’t end until 9 p.m.
“We staggered the skating rink (times) to make sure younger kids would not be overrun by the older kids,” she said. “Most of the people here this morning were parents with young children and kids (ages) 10-12. The evening events will draw older youths.”
Editor's note: Because of an editing error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the ice rink at the Saturday, Feb. 17, Hertford on Ice event was set up in the middle of a street. It was set up in the middle of a parking lot.
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