‘No Skating’ Sign Clears Hawley Pond And Disappoints Skaters

By Nancy K. Crevier

There were long faces at Hawley Pond Sunday afternoon, January 27, when Newtown police informed skaters and hockey players enjoying the smooth ice and crisp winter weather that they had to leave. Acting on a phone call that the Newtown Police Department believed was from a member of the Newtown Cemetery Association that owns Ram Pasture and Hawley Pond, police enforced the No Skating sign that has been posted on the east side of the pond since Friday, January 25.

However, Maureen Crick Owen, president of the Cemetery Association said Monday that it was not a member of the association who had called the police on Sunday. “The association did not call,” she said.

Ms Owen said that ice-skating at Hawley Pond has been a tradition for more than 75 years, and the Cemetery Association is not opposed to the fun activity. “We have never had this issue [around ice skating] before,” said Ms Owen, and the posting of the No Skating sign was in response to an incident early in the week of January 20.

“Last week a couple of kids were skating on the pond and I saw them there. The ice really was not safe at that time, so I asked them to leave,” explained Ms Owen. When the skaters ignored her request, Ms Owen felt it was the responsible thing for the association to post a No Skating sign.

Newtown resident Russell Anderson (see related letter in The Hive) was excited to find a pick up game of hockey Sunday afternoon, but had been on the ice no more than two minutes when police arrived to clear the ice.

“I hadn’t noticed the sign, to tell you the truth,” said Mr Anderson. “I love to play hockey and there is only so much time you can play in the year when the pond is frozen,” he said. He was very disappointed to be asked to leave, something that has never happened to him in previous winters.

“I look at the color of the ice [to decide if it is safe],” said Mr Anderson. “If it is glazed over, it’s probably safe, that’s just my rule of thumb. But when I see a couple hundred people on the pond, I’m not too concerned,” he added.

Tom Long, (see related letter in The Hive) on the other hand, admitted that he had noticed the No Skating sign, but with the pond filled with skaters, he too, was not concerned about the safety of the ice. “I thought maybe the sign had been left up from previous weeks or something,” said Mr Long, who has skated on Hawley Pond in other years without issue.

 Mr Long and his family never did get to enjoy the ice on Sunday after all, though. By the time they had organized and walked from their nearby home, the pond was skater-free and the police were instructing people to move along.

 An assistant in the office of Bill Forman in the Fisheries Division of The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection said that generally four inches of ice is recommended for safe skating. The office also noted that skaters should steer clear of inlets, outlets, dams, and other “soft” spots when skating on a lake or pond.

The Cemetery Association does not measure the ice, said Ms Owen. Skaters have always been trusted to use good judgment in the past. “Go with another person, not alone, and have a cellphone with you,” she said. Because Hawley Pond and Ram Pasture is private property, she asked that skaters respect the No Skating sign when it is posted.

It is not the intention of the Cemetery Association to put a halt to the much-beloved town tradition of skating at Hawley Pond, she said. “The weather patterns have been changing over the years. In past winters, we have historically had longer, colder winters. We just want everyone to be safe,” said Ms Owen.

The No Skating sign had been removed as of Wednesday.