A local restaurant is regrouping and switching gears after last week’s news that the ice is coming out of the Didsbury arena and curling rink for the remainder of this season.
An ammonia leak was discovered during regular maintenance of the condenser unit and ice plant. The Town announced it will be three to four months before a new condenser unit can be delivered and installed.
First and foremost, Kim Kennedy-Forsythe with Prairie Whistle Food Co. notes they are really proud to be the lease holders at the arena and curling rink. Their audience is hockey, curling, figure skating, and fans that come out for the Heritage Junior B Hockey League’s Mountain View Colts. She says “we found the opportunity to have our own little business at the Didsbury Memorial Complex. We’ve got a really great group of people that we work with there. We’re really proud to be the lease holders there, so it is just sort of, we want to do it for the community as well. We want to still be open and maintain that community space and have a place where people can come just hang out and gather and have a good meal and have some laughs. So that is kind of what we are going to do. Just sort of have fun with it and get our creative juices flowing again and do some really fun things.”
They have good news about their ability to still be involved with this year’s Didsbury Farm and Ranch Bonspiel – even though the event has now been moved to the Olds Curling Club. She says “we actually are going to be able to cater the Farm and Ranch Bonspiel up in Olds, where it has been relocated and Sam from RC Catering has graciously opened up his kitchen to us. So we are able to provide the lunch meals, as planned. That’s a positive for us right now because of course that bonspiel makes up a massive amount of our revenues for the year. Even thinking about trying to replace those was a bit of a wrench, if you will. So that’s kind of it there.”
According to Kennedy-Forsythe, they are working on a re-open date – probably in mid-January – and the plan is to have dine in and take out available with a new menu suited to both.
Follow Prairie Whistle Food Co. on Facebook and Instagram to keep an eye on how they are adapting to the removal of the ice at the Didsbury arena and curling rink for the rest of the 2024-2025 season.
96.5 CKFM Community Hotline conversation with Kim Kennedy-Forsythe.
