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The Seymour Lake Zamboni and the man who cleans the ice

Harvey Tremblay says he is having a good time
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A new Zamboni on Seymour Lake is getting a lot of attention.

A video taken by a local resident of Harvey Tremblay driving his new machine on the ice has gone viral.

Almost a thousand people have liked the clip on facebook and it has been shared 2,700 times.

Tremblay said buying a Zamboni has always been something he has wanted to do.

“I love skating on the lake but there are always cracks and holes, so it is a bit dangerous,” he said. “I thought it would be nice to make some safer ice.

“I’ve been looking for a place to do that and Seymour is one of the lakes around here that is always being cleaned.

“We’ve skated there for years, we finally got a lot there and put a little building up that I could put a zamboni in.”

He also chose to buy a lot on Seymour because of its proximity to town and because it seems like there is usually less wind there.

He got the idea after spending some time on another lake that gets resurfaced.

“We skated one time on Lake Louise. It was typical winter day but beautiful blue sky and they had dressed up a big area of ice in the middle of the lake,” he said.

“It was such a magical thing to be outdoors and enjoy skating. Otherwise you end up in a building, which is a shame.

“It is nice to be able to go out there, put your skates on there and go.”

He manages a little rink for his grandkids, plus he takes care of a rink for his neighbours who play hockey on it and there is a loop he’s adopted that he tries to keep in reasonable shape.

“It is a bit of a small machine, it isn’t like what you see in a rink,” he said. “It is small like a golf cart so it is imposing to be out there with that little machine on a lake. You can’t tackle too much, just have to restrict yourself a bit.”

So far he has received a lot of positive feedback from people who skate on the lake.

“As soon as I drive it on the lake, everyone migrates over,” he added.

Tremblay has heard from a few volunteers who want to help him.

“I was hoping to support someone else, like a club or something but I didn’t see that happening anytime soon so I thought I’d have to build it myself. There are few local people who are keen to help though.”

But he thinks it would it would be best if he learns the ins and outs of this machine first.

“There are few little things that I will probably make small changes to the machine but not much. It is a pretty good little unit for what it is and then get a couple of experienced people to help. We can’t keep it perfect all the time, we have to work with nature.”

Tremblay is semi-retired so he has time to dedicate to it and so far he’s having a great time with it.

“It is really fun to see people getting outside. My wife and I are both very supportive of getting kids and people in general connected to the outdoors. This is one of those ways.”

Seymour is not the only lake with a resident zamboni on it.

Tyhee Lake also gets a section of it cleaned with a machine.

Pete Vandergaag owns one and according to Chair of the The Smithers Celebrity Golf Tournament Kent Delwisch, he will be helping to prep the ice for the upcoming Vancouver Canucks Alumni game on March 1.

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Harvey Tremblay driving his new machine on Seymour Lake. (Contributed photo)


Marisca Bakker

About the Author: Marisca Bakker

Marisca was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Smithers almost ten years ago on a one-year contract.
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