Mission
We work to foster community through the joys of outdoor skating and recreation.
Our Story
An old-timey photograph hangs in the main hallway of the Winthrop Rink. It was taken in the 1920s and shows a couple skating on a frozen lake somewhere in the Methow Valley.
Their names are lost to history, but I’ve come to think of them as Buford and Mildred. I imagine how maybe, on that morning, they’d sat in their rocking chairs, Buford quilting and Mildred whittling wood. And it was Mildred who put down her knife and said: “Buford, I’ve got cabin fever. Let’s hitch the horses and go ice skating.”It could’ve happened. Who knows? My point is that outdoor ice skating has long been part of our way of life in the Methow Valley.
In 2024, the Winthrop Rink celebrates 25 years as a nonprofit organization. The dream of a permanent outdoor rink was born in 1999, back when volunteers flooded the parking lot of the Red Barn Community Center to create a temporary ice rink. They formed a nonprofit with the vision of building an outdoor rink for local and visiting skaters alike, that could also serve as an economic engine for the tourism economy. The Winthrop Rink is literally their Field of Dreams.
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![Winthrop Rink in the mid-1990s]()
Mid-1990s
Volunteers worked with Town of Winthrop to operate a seasonal rink at the Winthrop Barn and to convert an out-building for Zamboni storage.
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![Winthrop Rink in 2003]()
2003
After many attempts at receiving grant funds, we are finally successful in landing the first $375,000 matching funds IAC/RCO grant. Later that year, land was acquired for the rink.
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![Winthrop Rink in 2007]()
2007
Marc Robertson leads group of volunteers to partner with Town of Winthrop and build the official Winthrop Ice & Sports Rink (WISR) facility. After countless hours of donated labor, donated materials, community elbow grease and $801,000, the Rink emerged: a non refrigerated, uncovered, NHL regulation outdoor rink.
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![Winthrop Rink in 2015]()
2015
WISR board leads $994,000 capital campaign to provide refrigeration at the rink and extend its season to the shoulder seasons (November–March).
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![Winthrop Rink in 2016]()
2016
On November 18, 2016, Winthrop Rink opened for the first time with refrigeration and held a grand opening celebration on December 1, 2016.
