The 12-year-old rink, home of the Missoula Maulers and the University of Montana's hockey teams, is run as a nonprofit.
Now the rink needs to expand, and like other nonprofits in the state its managers came up with a novel idea - a custom license plate. The ice rink plates are now one of 96 different options for cars and trucks in Montana.
Being the only two-rink facility in the state, the Glacier Ice Rink gets about 90,000 visitors every season. Bill Mathews, the rink's executive director, said it is used by about 400 Missoula youths and 750 adults playing hockey.
The expansion should cost about $500,000, Mathews said, so the new plates won't cover much of the cost, but every little bit helps.
The specialty plates cost $45 for the initial fee, and $30 to renew annually, Mathews said. The state Motor Vehicles Division Web site lists the cost of a standard new-issue plate at $5.
Mathews expects to raise $12,000 to $15,000 per year from the plates. After the expansion, the proceeds will help pay for operational costs.
Mathews has run the ice rink for about two years, and now sports the new plate that shows hockey players skating on a pond. Mathews' own plate reads “Goooal.” He has been involved almost since the beginning as a coach, fundraiser and volunteer.
“There was a small group of individuals who wanted to build the rink,” Mathews said. “This has all been built on volunteerism and good fundraising efforts.”
Mathews' sons were the real cause of his involvement. Brett and Wyatt Mathews have both been playing hockey since they were 5, and now both compete statewide.
On Friday morning, looking down over the indoor rink, Mathews surveyed what needs to be done for Glacier. The balcony overlooks the locker rooms and equipment checkouts, all of which are wood cubbies with no roof and no insulation.
“We have kids, families dressing in freezing conditions,” Mathews said.
He then walked into the outdoor rink, scheduled to open in a couple of weeks. The west side is completely open, and Mathews said this has caused the rink to be closed on many occasions. A new wall would keep out the warm breeze and the sunshine.
“Eventually we might enclose this thing,” Mathews said.
With a new wall, the outdoor rink may get an additional two weeks in at the beginning and end of the season.
To pay for this addition, Glacier Ice Rink is also having a “buy a block” fundraiser, where donors purchase the “blocks” used to build the addition for $100 each.
For each license plate sold, the ice rink gets an initial $30, and $30 per year for renewal.
It was about a five-month process for Glacier to get these plates into circulation. It started with a $4,000 donation from Nightingale Nursing and Caregiving to pay the fees involved.
Nightingale owner Bill Woody is good friends with Mathews, and said his whole family uses the rink.
“It's been a great program for them,” Woody said. “Everyone in my family plays hockey except for me.”
The plan then went to Exact Image, where Brian Shennum took charge of the artwork. His company did the art for the St. Patrick Hospital Life Flight plates and was recommended to Mathews for the job.
“It's really colorful and represents what the kids are doing,” Shennum said. “Hockey's become such a family sport around Missoula; it's really neat to see a little money going to it.”
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