Submitted Photo The Small Town, Big Minds podcast crew pose in front of the new ice rink crowd funded by their listeners and the community. From left to right is Christopher Rodriguez, Raul Rosado, City of Dunkirk Recreation Program Coordinator Ryan Hall, Evon Hernandez and A.J. Morales.

The Small Town, Big Minds podcast has done it again. First it was the creation of a community mural at the old Regent Theatre on Third Street in the city of Dunkirk. Now, they’ve built an ice rink for the community to enjoy.

“We wanted to do another community project and show the community what we could do when we work together,” podcast host Christopher Rodriguez stated. “We go through a long winter, so we wanted to do a community project that incorporated the winter season and embraces our seasonal changes. A lot of people stay inside during the winter and there’s just not too much to do in the area, so we wanted to create a spot where there was actually something to do during the winter months.”

The rink cost roughly $3,800 to build. First they hosted a kickball tournament that raised about $1,400 and from that they purchased the do-it-yourself ice rink kit from Iron Sleek. After that they raised $2,000 on Facebook fundraising over the past two months to buy all of the wood and the rest of the supplies needed for its construction.

It now sits behind the old School 6 hardening up for its first use.

“We did the art mural first and we didn’t want to stop there,” Rodriguez said. “You get an idea and it comes to fruition and it motivates you to do another one after that. We were pondering this one for a little while, we just wanted to make sure we did it at the right time because the ice had to freeze at a perfect time and we weren’t getting that much snow so we were getting a little worried there that it wasn’t going to hit and here we are, right when we finish, all this snow comes pouring down.”

Small Town, Big Minds members Evon Hernandez, Raul Rosado and A.J. Morales along with Rodriguez finished the construction on Jan. 15, now it just has to harden which takes about four to five days to completely freeze and be safe for use.

“We hope the community enjoys our latest endeavour,” Rodriguez shared. “We love our area and hope that everyone continues to support one another.”