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Skating at Longshore slides into Westporters’ weekend plans

With colorful coats hugging their warm bodies and wool hats stretching to cover the tips of their red ears, Westport residents laced up their ice skates at Longshore on Saturday to kick off the rink’s winter season.

Clinging onto the side of the rink and playing with his gloves, Jasper Burke ’21, a frequent Longshore skater, said he’s loved putting on a pair of skates ever since he was little.

“I like the way the wind feels rushing to my face when I go fast,” Burke said, before taking off in the other direction.

Tony Lantier, owner of Thin Ice Management and operator of the rink, greeted old and new friends through the skate rental window. This past month he’s been busy smoothing out the rink’s surface in preparation for the ice.
“Usually we don’t start building the ice until this week, but last week it got really cold, so I figured, might as well open early,” Lantier said.
Abby Straight ’20, skating with her sister and a few friends, said in addition to drinking a cup of cocoa and munching on a warm funnel cake at Joey’s, she really wanted to come on opening day to see how the rink was expanded.

Since Longshore is hosting four Staples hockey games this winter, the rink was forced to add 15 feet to fit FCIAC standards. The sound system was also revamped to include a PA system for game announcements, according to Lantier.

Saturday’s skaters all seemed to appreciate having a little extra room to dig their skates into and said they look forward to returning.

On Dec. 12th the Wreckers will take on Norwalk in the War at the Shore preseason game. Staples Superfans are expected to make an appearance. For other hours of operation, visit http://www.wpalrink.com/.

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Taylor Harrington, Breaking News Managing Editor
Taylor Harrington ’15 has been through the ropes before. As Breaking News Managing Editor, Harrington enters her second year on Inklings with a prestigious position and nothing but a positive attitude.   There’s no one word that describes Harrington, but outgoing, creative, and amiable are the closest fits. If asked to put her persona in a nutshell, her love for people would be the common denominator.   “Whether it’s helping the underprivileged, supervising four-year old kids, or hanging out with my friends, my life revolves around people,” Harrington said.   One of Harrington’s favorite parts about Inklings is the social media aspect. Known for her big-hit video, 2013 Inklings year in review, Harrington’s pure creativity is shown in all her work.   Aside from Inklings, she spends the majority of her time after school as the secretary of the Best Buddies club and volunteers for the National Charity League (NCL). Over the summer, Harrington hung out with her Best Buddy on a consistent basis. Her involvement ranged from planned events to baseball games with him.   Harrington’s passion for helping will continue this year as a part of the NCL, a mother-daughter organization that assists with charitable events in the community. Specifically, she and the senior class will be doing a project to decorate the room of a little girl who was recently diagnosed with cancer.   “She wants a pink and purple princess room, so that's what we are going to give her,” Harrington said.   But Harrington’s claim to fame is her superb baking skills. The non-existent bakery, as she likes to call it, is her assortment of exotic desserts on Instagram. After baking one of her mouth-watering masterpieces, Harrington will post a picture of it on Instagram and label it “my non-existent bakery.”

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