Long Way from Here

“Chez Koop” Colisseum Gala Opening Night

chrilisha — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:24:11 +0000

Ice making weather has arrived and with that we’ve finally been able to celebrate the grand opening of our community hockey rink. It was a memorable night, as the dad who volunteered to house the rink on his lot(hence the naming rights) really got behind promoting the evening. His day job involves advertising and marketing, and if the vision he cast for the grand opening ceremony is any indication, I gather he’s pretty good at making humble things seem special! The gala event included a speech and ribbon cutting by the Steinbach mayor, appearances by some of the Jr. A Steinbach Piston coach and players, a scrimmage between kids and players, a shootout against the goalie, local media coverage and a fireworks display to cap it all off. It was fun, and the kids had a blast enjoying the spectacle. To a kid like Jakob, those Piston players were on par with the Winnipeg Jets!

Here’s an article from Steinbachonline.com …

‘Koop’s Coliseum’ Opens To Neighborhood

Written by Jeremy St. Louis

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 04:58

Members of the Pistons enjoy a skate with local kids

As far as the opening of backyard hockey rinks go, this was a pretty big one for Steinbach.

It’s not every day you get the Mayor cutting the ribbon to kick-off play at a frozen water and plywood facility complete with a parental firepit and industrial lighting. But, not everyone is Chris Koop of Chez Koop Design House. Anyone who knows Chris knows nothing is too small for a big grand opening. Not only was the Mayor on hand, Koop also convinced his high school friend Paul Dyck to bring over a few of his Steinbach Pistons to play some of the local kids. He also convinced his wife, Michelle Sawatzky, to sing the national anthem before the game got underway.

To say this was a postcard Canadian winter moment would be an understatement.

When asked how it all came together, Koop was very quick to point out this was a community team effort.

“This is not just one person. This is about my friends in the neighborhood who thought this was a great idea. It just so happened we had the space and it was on our yard, but it’s a team effort here. Guys are out here flooding and when we’re not home, people are shoveling it off or flooding it themselves. It’s really been maybe 10-12 couples that have banded together and that’s fantastic.”

Mayor Chris Goertzen, who lives in the neighborhood and was there with his young son, says Steinbach needs more of this.

“We want to encourage as many of our neighborhoods as possible to get together and create these backyard community connecting places. We think it is great for the kids, great for the parents and it definitely creates a connection between neighborhoods.”

The ice surface itself is about a third of the size of what the Steinbach Pistons are used to wheeling around on. Still, defenceman Matt Franczyk says they know how important it is for the kids to be able to skate with players they idolize and admire. He reflects on a similar experience from his childhood which has provided him with great perspective.

“I remember skating with some guys who were triple-A guys and I was just awestruck, so I have to take every moment with these guys and just play along and have fun with them.”

His coach Paul Dyck was also feeling a little nostalgic.

“I tell the guys all the time – it’s a great game and you have to have fun when you’re practicing it and when you’re playing it, and this takes you right back to how when you first started, you loved it. That’s why you gravitate towards it and start playing it at higher levels.”

Dyck adds close ties to Chris Koop or not, they are just honored to be asked to come and skate.

“It’s great that we can participate. I know for all these players, this is getting back to their roots too. Guys talk about doing this kind of thing on their own sometimes, so for this to be out here in our town is awesome. I know there are a few others in town but Chris (Koop) and the community around here has done a great job with this.”

Koop and Co. shy away from the kudos, preferring to simply say that this is what makes Steinbach, and Canada, a special place.

“The camaraderie of kind of building it together and then the parents sitting around on a Sunday afternoon watching the kids skate while the fire’s going, as a father playing with your kids in the evening….I know we’re a city but I still think of us as a town and that’s what we’re about, so to kind of get an opportunity to make this happen is pretty exciting.”

As he chases down his son, who is too young to skate but isn’t shy about going on the ice, Goertzen wholeheartedly agrees with that sentiment.

“It’s fantastic. The kids are having fun, the parents are having fun, it’s really a great way to have neighborhood spirit and community spirit.”

Zaatar Managheesh

chrilisha — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:42:43 +0000

Baggie of the green Zaatar - a mix of sesame seeds, sumac and other stuff.

While we were living in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, our family discovered a delicious flatbread at the local Star Market Bakery. It was so tasty that it became the only foolproof food that could overcome Jakob’s intense, terrible two refusal to eat ANYTHING. On leaving Saudi, we loaded up on the Zaatar spice mix and I approached the baker to see if he’d be willing to share his recipe with me. Since he knew we were leaving the Kingdom, he agreed to share his secret. This was my second stab at making our very own “Star Market Bread,” and they turned out nearly as good as the original.

Despite the unenthusiastic expression, Jakob thought this was one of the highlights of his Christmas holidays.

Final product. I think the proper name for these is zaatar managheesh. It's an imported dish from Lebanon, if I'm not mistaken.

Warm Winter Weather

chrilisha — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:37:51 +0000

Well, the warm winter weather has put a damper on having fun on the backyard rink. It just hasn’t been cold enough to get the ice finished, but I reckon it’s only one or two floods away from being ready. So, instead of skating in the backyard, I gave Jakob the option of going to the aquatic centre, or riding his bike this afternoon. He chose bike riding. That’s m’boy!

Riding on a balmy December day.

Good Old Fashioned Amish Rink Raising

chrilisha — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:59:55 +0000

As a young boy growing up, I often dreamed of how awesome it would be to have my very own backyard hockey rink. I’d heard plenty of stories of NHLer’s who honed their skills as youngsters playing into the wee hours of the prairie evening on the farmyard dugout, or backyard rink. My youth is long gone, but I can finally say that my childhood dream has materialized. A few of the neighbourhood dads, all of whom are ~~Amish~~ Mennonite, got together and put up a community hockey rink in the backyard that backs up to our house. So once the snow flies and ice is ready, I can lace up the skates in our breezeway and just walk the 50 metres to the rink and start shooting. Awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I did it all for the kids…;-) The beauty part is that our workload is cut in half since city has offered to flood it for us, seeing as it’s a community rink. Steinbach rules.

Build it and they will come...

Putting the side boards into position.

It's about 30X60 feet. Not a bad little rink, eh? I can almost hear strains of Van Halen's JUMP with "Here come your Winnipeg Jets" echoing in my mind.