GREENFIELD — Dozens of skaters hit the ice Sunday afternoon at Collins-Moylan Skating Arena on Barr Avenue during a New Year’s Day public skating event.
At the arena around 1:30 p.m., children skated with parents, grandparents watched from the sides, and aspiring young hockey players clad in oversized equipment and hockey helmets whizzed through the crowd, circling the rink.
Among the onlookers, Greenfield resident Hilary Candelaria, who was waiting on a bench, shared her new year’s resolution for 2017.
Last year, Candelaria’s father passed away, which she said has helped her realize the importance of family. In the new year, she wants to “reach out” and connect more often with loved ones.
“Life slips right by you,” Candelaria said. “One thing I want to work on — I just want to stop being so self-involved.”
Sitting next to Candelaria, local resident Kimberly Thurber said in the new year she’d like to live a little more spontaneously, and do more “living in the moment, and not be such a planner. Planning is so overrated.”
Thurber said life’s too fast, and there’s already “so much structure in the world.”
“Less work, more fun,” she added.
While some vowed change in the coming year, others, including Rona Rothenberg, who was watching the skaters from the side of the rink, said she doesn’t do new year’s resolutions anymore.
“I’m old enough that I’ve stopped doing them — to stop what I never keep,” Rothenberg said with a laugh.
Throughout the year, the rink holds public skating most weekday and weekend afternoons, as well as on Friday nights. For more information, visit facebook.com/CollinsMoylan.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo