Nov. 29 (UPI) — First lady Jill Biden unveiled a new holiday ice rink Wednesday on the South Lawn of the White House where children will be invited to skate and play ice hockey throughout the month of December.
“Who’s ready to skate?” the first lady asked onlookers after performances by Snoopy, the comic beagle from Peanuts, and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, among others.
The ice rink, which measures 50-feet by 70-feet, will not be open to the general public. Instead the rink will be available by invitation to schoolchildren in the Washington, D.C., area, as well as the children of service members, first responders, frontline workers and teachers.
The National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association will also provide free equipment, lessons and coaching through their “Learn to Play/Learn to Skate” program.
“The memories you make will stay with you for all of your holidays to come,” Biden said before the performances.
“What’s more magical and wonderful and joyful than, you know, being on an ice rink in the South Lawn of the White House?” the first lady added. “That’s how children often see the world in this time of the year, with magic, wonder and joy,” which is also this year’s holiday theme at the White House.
While the ice rink is not a White House holiday tradition, it is also not the first rink to be built on the South Lawn. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter built a rink for Olympian Peggy Fleming to perform during a White House Christmas party for Secret Service agents, military aides and families.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was buried Wednesday in her hometown of Plains, Georgia.
