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This little story starts twenty-five years ago in 1994.
The Cornelia Warren foundation, founded in 1925 by the daughter of a local industrialist, invests $35k (or $60k in 2019 dollars) into retrofitting a popular outdoor rink in Westbrook, Maine for year-round use. #mesoccer
The Cornelia Warren foundation, founded in 1925 by the daughter of a local industrialist, invests $35k (or $60k in 2019 dollars) into retrofitting a popular outdoor rink in Westbrook, Maine for year-round use. #mesoccer
The rink is on the banks of the Presumpscot River and is within walking distance of the city's mills and the historical Frenchtown, Scotch Hill, and Little Canada neighborhoods, so-named because of Westbrook's history as an immigrant-powered, working-class mill city.
It’s not the first time Cornelia Warren’s name is attached to an unconventional recreational project in Westbrook.
In 1904 she leads the effort to convert one floor of a downtown building into a gymnasium intended to give Westbrook’s youth more recreational opportunities.
In 1904 she leads the effort to convert one floor of a downtown building into a gymnasium intended to give Westbrook’s youth more recreational opportunities.
(Personal aside: Until it closed in 2010, there was a no-frills bar on the ground floor of this building called the Mill Side Tavern.
I was too young to ever experience the gym, but I did often ask for the bar TV to be changed from UFC to @USMNT for their 2010 qualifiers.)
I was too young to ever experience the gym, but I did often ask for the bar TV to be changed from UFC to @USMNT for their 2010 qualifiers.)
Anyway, Cumberland Hall is born in 1905, and Cornelia Warren’s investment expands recreational opportunities for Westbrook’s youth--including girls.
The gym is heavily-used through the 1970s and is known as the “cradle" of the city's success on the basketball court.
The gym is heavily-used through the 1970s and is known as the “cradle" of the city's success on the basketball court.
Back to the Cornelia Warren Four Season Rink.
In 1994 I'm an 11-year-old living in a trailer park a five-minute drive away from the rink.
And even though my friends and I spend most of our waking hours playing outside, I don't recall us ever thinking about using the facility.
In 1994 I'm an 11-year-old living in a trailer park a five-minute drive away from the rink.
And even though my friends and I spend most of our waking hours playing outside, I don't recall us ever thinking about using the facility.
In 1995 my family moves to our first house in a neighborhood even closer to the rink, but I still don't recall anyone using it.
In 2001, I graduate from Westbrook High School, and I still don't recall anyone ever using the rink.
In 2001, I graduate from Westbrook High School, and I still don't recall anyone ever using the rink.
I continue to live in Westbrook while attending @USouthernMaine, and--with the exception of a 10-month stretch of time when I lived in New Jersey and California for @USCG training--I live in Westbrook through when I'm hired as the JV boys' coach at my alma mater in 2011.
Still don't recall anyone using the rink except in the winter, when it may or may not freeze.
