Far-reaching duties of rink attendant, invaluable to city residents
Alex Lemmon of Rogers City laced up his ice skates and was ready for the last 45 minutes of skating at Sports Park Monday, but he didn’t have a hockey puck. Lemmon poked his head into the warming house and asked rink attendant Joe Yarch if he had one he could use. “It’s on the other side of the fence,” Yarch said, pointing to his tiny office. Lemmon, who was wearing a New York Rangers hockey jersey, walked around, grabbed a puck, as if he knew where it was all along, but offered Yarch the courtesy of asking. He grabbed the puck and went back out on the ice in the area designated for hockey. Yarch helps where he can.
IF SOMEONE needs their laces tied, Yarch will make them nice and tight. If somebody doesn’t have a pair of skates, Yarch will look through his limited supply of donated skates to find some footwear. If a disagreement occurs and a fight breaks out, Yarch will rush out and put an end to it quicker than it started. It’s not in the official job description, but keeping people happy is what Yarch has been doing for two decades in Rogers City.
“He’s great,” said Alva Claus, mother of two. “He’s real friendly with all of the kids and does a great job of lacing all of those skates up. The kids love him down here.” Rick Wagner, a Second Street resident who only has a short distance to walk to the rink, agrees. “I think Joe does a great job,” said Wagner. “I know he shouldn’t be the babysitter down here, but he has to be sometimes.”
YARCH’S DUTIES go beyond being a one man-security force, the onsite custodian, and the person who opens and closes the facility. If someone hasn’t been picked up by a parent by the time the rink closes, he’ll stay. One time it was 20 minutes. “He’s really nice,” said Jessi Claus, 14. “He’s one of the coolest people. You could talk to him about something, and he’ll listen.”
Yarch has heard a lot of banter the last week with extra nine-hour shifts — all without leaving — because school in Rogers City was not in session late last week and early this week. The conditions this week were ideal for skating and are expected to continue at their steady level into next week. With the fluctuation in temperatures, it’s made it difficult to enjoy winter activities, but surprisingly, the rink has weathered the good and the bad this season and has been open 36 out of a possible 47 days since January 3, when the rink finally opened. It has closed and reopened three times since then.
“We’ve never lost a complete base,” Yarch said. “It’s swept and plowed every day.” Yarch remembers one season when t
A LOT HAS happened since Yarch started in 1985. He has seen his share of injuries, including two brothers who broke their leg a week apart from each other. There have been changes in 20 years as well. On a night when the weather conditions are good, Yarch will see anywhere between 25 to 30 people on the ice in the evenings. When he started it was 50 to 60. There also have been renovations to the facility. Some things haven’t changed, like the old church pew that has been there before Yarch started as a part-timer on weekends.
“I’m not sure where it came from,” he said. The one thing that has remained a constant is the price, which Yarch says surprises some people. He said some people look at him strangely when he tells them there is no charge for the use of the warming house or ice. It’s all free. The city pays Yarch’s wages, but his service to the city and its residents has been invaluable.