One of the very best features of our club is Hardon Pond.
One could argue that it is the single feature that sets our club above any of the others, and makes us unique. By summer it is a typical New England pond, teeming with wildlife both above and below the surface. Snapping turtles, several varieties of carp, bullfrogs, and even some beavers can be seen swimming below the surface…even after the pond freezes! It is a truly unique experience to skate onto the season’s first black ice and and actually see the pond’s varied population swimming beneath your skates!
Did you know that these carp were brought in by Bruce Bartolo over 20 years ago in order to feed off the eutrified growth that accumulates every spring and summer and chokes the oxygen from less fortunate ponds? So our carp are useful carp! Bruce says some have reached epic sizes (you’ll have to ask him just how big) over the years.
Hardon Pond is a spring fed pond, which means that currents run beneath it. These currents do change somewhat year-to-year, and present Justin and the staff with new challenges every season. It is a monumental task to keep Hardon Pond open every year through snow, sleet, ice, leaves, wind and fluctuating temperatures. Justin and his staff spend enormous hours of painful labor (try spreading a layer of water across a couple of acres at three o’clock in the morning when the wind chill factor is 30 below zero) and continually shovel, scrape, patch holes, flood, and repair this ice so that our kids can enjoy it. Believe it or not, the pond is frequently in as good of shape as the rink – and many of our kids prefer it even when it’s not. So let Justin and his staff know how much you appreciate their efforts. It is truly a labor of love.
Hardon Pond Rules
No one is permitted on the pond when the sign saying, “Keep Off” is posted. Skate only within the area designated by the managers.
Hockey players must wear gloves, helmets and masks on the pond.
Anyone throwing any object on the pond (including snowballs) is ruining the ice for all other members and will be REPRIMANDED and/or REMOVED FROM THE ICE. Each object of any kind that lays on the ice for any length of time DAMAGES THE ICE…sometimes beyond repair. Even on a cold, sunny day, it only takes a half hour or so for a puck to melt its way into the ice surface, creating a hole that could catch someone’s edge and cause serious injury. Snowballs, sticks, rocks, cans or other debris are equally damaging.
PLEASE RESPECT THE POND!
