There is no escaping winter in Western New York. We deal with the wind chills, heavy lake-effect snows and sometimes icy conditions.

That is not always a bad thing — and it could be something to embrace. A group known as Small Town, Big Minds is doing just that.

It created an ice rink near the old School 6 close to Roberts Road. If Sunday’s use was any indication, the community is thrilled with the addition to the neighborhood.

In all, the facility cost $3,800 to build with funds that were raised from a kickball tournament and a Facebook post. “We go through a long winter, so we wanted to do a community project that incorporated the winter season and embraces our seasonal changes,” said Christopher Rodriguez, who hosts a podcast for the organization. “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.”

So far, so good. With Steele Hall ice arena at the State University of New York at Fredonia closed to the public due to COVID-19, this fills a major community void.

It is definitely a cool addition to Dunkirk.