Giving community

'TIE THEM TO the fence." That was the plea from the Middlebury Parks and Recreation Department on Friday. The dept. had been inundated with requests for skate rentals ever since the new outdoor rink opened. Trouble was, they didn't have any skates to rent. So they made an appeal on Facebook, asking folks to donate what they could. 

This is what the fence looked like the very next day. 

"Time after time, when the call goes out, the Middlebury community responds," wrote the department's Scott Bourne in a follow-up Facebook post. "Thank you to all who have generously tied their skates to our fence, and all who will. Please keep them coming!"

So far they have received 20 pairs, Bourne said. The skates have been taken inside the Rec Center for now to protect them from forecasted snow, but they will be back up for anyone to use when the rink reopens on Thursday.

Photo by Scott Bourne