Selling concessions during the Chicago Blackhawks NHL Preseason training camp at the Garden City Arena
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Title
Selling concessions during the Chicago Blackhawks NHL Preseason training camp at the Garden City Arena
Description
My younger brother and I along with some neighbouring kids in our age cohort were provided an opportunity to walk the stands selling concessions over three nights when the Chicago Blackhawks held their preseason training camp in St Catharines and hosted teams for exhibition matches.
Working the first game was actually the first time my brother and I had been in Garden City Arena when the stands were full. Prior to that we attended a few public skating hours on Saturday afternoons before our Standard paper routes, but the energy of the crowds, for a 13 year old was exciting. Hawking various snacks meant our eyes could not be on the action very often, so unfortunately we missed every goal, there wasn’t a screen to catch replays.
My friends stumbled on a good idea to get close up with the players. We restocked our boxes in the closing moments of a period and then walked to the vomitoria leading from the ice to the change rooms. Waiting for our exhausted heroes and seeing them pass by was a great thrill. Luckily there were always fans in stands wishing to avoid the smoke filled dank corridors leading to the washrooms until absolutely necessary.
When given ice cream bars to sell we always groaned. The last one in your kit was always a tough sell but we seemed to manage.
St Catharines has always been a hockey town.
The only public photo that I recall is the snow fort we had built in a neighbours front yard circa 1962-3 that a passing Standard photographer captured and placed on Page 9, the local news page. That photo was resurrected about 5 years ago when the St Catharines museum featured a retrospective celebrating winter in Niagara.
Working the first game was actually the first time my brother and I had been in Garden City Arena when the stands were full. Prior to that we attended a few public skating hours on Saturday afternoons before our Standard paper routes, but the energy of the crowds, for a 13 year old was exciting. Hawking various snacks meant our eyes could not be on the action very often, so unfortunately we missed every goal, there wasn’t a screen to catch replays.
My friends stumbled on a good idea to get close up with the players. We restocked our boxes in the closing moments of a period and then walked to the vomitoria leading from the ice to the change rooms. Waiting for our exhausted heroes and seeing them pass by was a great thrill. Luckily there were always fans in stands wishing to avoid the smoke filled dank corridors leading to the washrooms until absolutely necessary.
When given ice cream bars to sell we always groaned. The last one in your kit was always a tough sell but we seemed to manage.
St Catharines has always been a hockey town.
The only public photo that I recall is the snow fort we had built in a neighbours front yard circa 1962-3 that a passing Standard photographer captured and placed on Page 9, the local news page. That photo was resurrected about 5 years ago when the St Catharines museum featured a retrospective celebrating winter in Niagara.
Creator
Robert Romanuk
Date
Mid-1960s
Contributor
Robert Romanuk
Type
Memory
Coverage
St. Catharines
Key Terms
Chicago Blackhawks
Garden City Arena
St. Catharines Standard
Collection
Citation
Anonymous, “Selling concessions during the Chicago Blackhawks NHL Preseason training camp at the Garden City Arena,” Sport Oral History Archive, accessed April 20, 2024, https://sportoralhistory.ca/items/show/76.