Annual Etna Street Skate set for Sunday on Butler Street

Holding an outdoor ice skating event can be a little tricky at the end of a week where the temperature has risen to an unseasonable 70 degrees. But folks in Etna anticipating the 2023 Street Skate event need not worry. When Butler St. transforms into an outdoor ice rink Sunday — with a forecasted high of 51 degrees — the ice is going to be artificial.

A portable synthetic ice rink will be set up on Sunday morning by a Wheeling, W. Va., company called All Year Sports Galaxy. Skating is free and the rink will be open from 2 to 6 p.m. Skate rentals are also free and anyone who has skates can get them sharpened for no charge. Butler Street from High Street to Freeport Street will close at 10 a.m. and remain closed until 8 p.m. to allow for time to set up and remove the rink.

“It takes us two or three hours to build,” Lena Slivchenko said.

She has a master of business administration from Wheeling Jesuit University and runs All Year Sports Galaxy with her husband, former pro hockey player and Ukrainian Olympic star Vadim Slivchenko. They are natives of Kharkiv, Ukraine, and put in rinks with both real and artificial ice all over the U.S.

Since he is scheduled to put a rink in a location on the west coast this weekend, Lena will be accompanied to Pittsburgh by their 24-year-old son Nikita on Sunday. The work involves laying and connecting panels and putting up fencing, lights and sound equipment to play music.

“(The rink surface) is a special blend of plastics infused with oil inside, so when the skate blades are on it, there is less friction,” she explained. “It’s still a little bit slower, but it’s still awesome because we can build it in two or three hours and we don’t have to rely on weather or any expensive chillers and we can skate. We bring in sharpening equipment and sharpen skates constantly.”

Slivchenko said the rink can hold about 30 people at a time and by the end of the day, several hundred will have participated.

Etna borough manager Mary Ellen Ramage said the event fits in perfectly with Etna’s status as a Live Well Allegheny Community that encourages long term health and wellness.

“We try to encourage people to eat healthy and exercise, so this is our winter exercise event,” she said.