The Santa Clarita Valley community celebrated the holiday season at the Cube Ice Skating rink on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. While the annual tree lighting ceremony was the main focus, other activities, such as photo opportunities and children’s sledding, attracted attendees to the event.
Matt Dugan, the Assistant General Manager at The Cube, began preparations for the event in September. “It starts in about September, getting the tree organized [and] getting all the decorations that [the crew] set up. We work with the city who put on the event with us, the LA Kings, who provide Bailey, the LA Kings Ice Crew and Daryl Evans, the emcee tonight,” Dugan explained. With a total of three rinks, The Cube has the space to put the tree on ice for people to skate around.
Participants gathered around the smaller rink at The Cube, watching from the sidelines as emcee Daryl Evans, broadcaster for the LA Kings hockey team, stepped onto the ice. Evans introduced himself and applauded The Cube for hosting multiple events for ice sports and bringing the community together. Shortly after, he then introduced Santa Clarita Mayor Bill Miranda, who gave a short speech about the rink before the official lighting.
Finally, it was time for the tree lighting to begin. The lights turned off, and event goers watched as Miranda struck the puck that was hurled towards a button near the tree. Upon impact, the whole tree lit up instantaneously, illuminating the dark rink. Soon afterwards, young ice skaters dressed up in Nutcracker costumes flitted across the rink, ready to begin their show. After a graceful, skilled performance, the rink erupted into applause, and attendees had the chance to get pictures with the night’s emcees and the LA Kings crew.
After all of the events for the tree lighting concluded, Miranda announced that children were free to go sledding on a mini snow hill created by The Cube next to the tree, leaving the bigger rink open for skaters.
Event goer Ashley Jimenez attended the event with her two kids, who are hockey players themselves. “If you didn’t know someone, you met someone today” Jimenez shared. “Like, I met a lot of different moms [and] a lot of different parents, which is nice because I’m going to see them around.” Jimenez explained how the simple joys, such as seeing her daughter have fun with her friends, truly became the most important thing.
Evans shared a similar sentiment to Jimenez regarding seeing new faces. “It’s a way for people to be able to get out and absorb people through the community and find out what [their] options are,” he commented. “If you’re driving or walking, you’re at the grocery store, you might see somebody that you saw here tonight. That’s a familiar face, you get a smile.”
Cats, make sure you check out other holiday events around Santa Clarita!
