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BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

The Elizabethton Chamber of Commerce, as well as the City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department and Carter County Bank held a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday in honor of the open-air ice skating rink at Covered Bridge Park in Elizabethton.

Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department Program and Special Events Coordinator Kelly Kitchens and Chamber of Commerce Director of Development Joy McCray said they have talked about the idea since last year.

“When Joy and I met about a year ago, we talked about what a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce and Parks and Rec would look like, and one of the first subjects we talked about was an ice rink. We have talked about offering ice skating in the park for a number of years, and now here we are overlooking an ice skating rink in the middle of Covered Bridge Park,” said Kitchens.

“It has been an amazing partnership,” Kitchens said. “The Chamber is important here in Elizabethton, they want to see the community embrace what we already have as well as be able to offer more. Carter County Bank as well as the Carter County Commission has also been instrumental in making all of this happen.”

“All of these people working together and seeing the same vision has done nothing but enhance the City of Elizabethton and what we have to offer,” Kitchens said.

The ice skating rink is the only one of its kind in the region.

“It’s amazing to see everyone come out, with the support of the community and even people traveling around and seeing what is going on. There really is no better place for something like this, it is beautiful with the Christmas lights going at night and being able to overlook the Doe River,” Kitchens said.

“We were booked solid Saturday and yesterday, and it was a very busy opening weekend. But we were so happy to be able to offer something else to do in Elizabethton, and it was so fun to watch everyone embrace what is going on and see families begin new traditions here at Covered Bridge Park.”

Tickets for the ice skating rink are available at skatebythedoe.com and are $10 per person for one hour which includes the ice skating rental.

The rink is open for public skating on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and private reservations are available on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The Ice skating rink will be open until Jan. 16, 2022.