Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
SPIRITWOOD — Joyce Willick has the keys to the town.
Literally.
It becomes pretty obvious, even if you hang around her for just part of a day, that this is very much her town.
“Joyce is up there with J.C. (Jesus Christ),” says Bob Smolinski, who helps run the local diner, Marion’s Burger Bar, with his wife, Marion.
Smolinski raises his hand above his head.
That’s pretty high praise, indeed.
But that’s how much she’s revered, admired and trusted in this Saskatchewan town of around 1,000 residents.
Joyce is like Norm in the old TV series, Cheers.
Everybody knows her name.
Willick is 88 years old and has her own set of keys to the town’s rink and recreation centre. As the rink caretaker for many years, she knows it like the back of her hand.
She’s cleaned both the ice and the building.
Even now, she still drives the Zamboni on occasion.
“I like honking the horn at the kids sitting in the players’ box, waiting for me and watching me go around,” she says with a chuckle. “No, no. I just enjoy it. It’s just a fun thing. It’s easy. I’ve trained different (drivers) over the years.”
Willick helps out where she can.
“When they need some help,” she says.
The rink is truly her second home.
“Pretty much,” she says as she sits down to chat inside the arena’s concession area. “I’m here a lot. I come here to watch a lot, too, because I’ve seen these kids grow up in hockey.”
It’s a sport she absolutely loves.
“Our seven kids — six sons and one daughter — all played hockey,” she says. “My husband played lots of hockey. I played hockey in high school and later, too.
“A couple of my grand-kids in Airdrie, they’re playing hockey and they were here last summer and last fall. They have long hair and I say, ‘Guys, what’s with the long hair?’ They say, ‘Grandma, don’t you know we’re hockey players?’”
She laughs.
Town of Spiritwood facilities manager Glennalda Saam has the most experienced part-time helper in Willick when she’s called upon.
“It’s pretty awesome. She’s pretty awesome,” Saam says. “She’s always my back-up when we need an extra Zamboni driver. She’s on call. She has a cell phone. And she still has keys to the place. Whenever I need somebody, because I don’t have a driver, she’s there to pick up the slack.
“She’s always there when I need her. For her to be able to do that (at age 88), that’s pretty great.”
The Town of Spiritwood has three main Zamboni drivers this winter.
Joyce Willick drives the Zamboni at the Spiritwood arena.
Willick is the fourth. She’s like that emergency back-up goalie. She is small in stature but pretty darn spry for an octogenarian.
Prior to her current part-time role, she was the chief custodian at the rink for decades, doing everything from preparing the ice to cleaning the bathrooms.
“In the old rink, I ordered the food, paid the bills and did the bookings by the month,” she says, not at all complaining.
“They call it work, but it’s not. I enjoy it. Saturday, I was here for the U7 tournament. You see them learn to skate. I looked around and two of the grandmothers, I had seen (them) learn to skate years ago. Yesterday was U18 girls. Well, I just love that team. They gave me their bunny hug. It’s their logo and it’s pretty special.”
Multi-tasking, multi-purpose facility
It’s Monday morning at the rink in mid-December.
You can see Willick’s vehicle already parked there. Her licence plate bears her name, Joyce W.
Walking into the arena, you smell the oil from the fryer in the rink’s concession kitchen.
There’s a distinctive french-fries fragrance in the air.
Willick has turned on the fan.
“Somebody left the fryer on,” she says, sounding a bit alarmed.
There’s a plaque on the wall. It’s a photo of Willick pulling an old hand-held ice cleaner, with a child hitching a ride, back in the early 1980s.
“They used to fight to ride this thing,” she says with a laugh.
Later, Willick gives the visitors a complete tour of the Spiritwood and District Rec Centre.
The complex not only includes a decent sized hockey rink but also a four-sheet curling rink, a six-lane bowling alley and second-level viewing levels for all three.
Even the local dance club utilizes the spacious upper level.
It’s truly a multi-purpose facility.
There’s a big glass cabinet upstairs, overlooking the rink. Encased are framed photos and hockey bios celebrating former Spiritwood and District minor hockey players.
There’s also an autographed Jeni Creary Ohio State University hockey jersey, as well as a framed newspaper article and Creary’s Team Canada photo.
The reporter tells Willick how he knew Spiritwood native Kendall Sidoruk when he played for the Battlefords North Stars in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Turns out Willick knew that he had gone on to the United States to play college hockey and then pro hockey.
“We even went to the States to watch him play,” she says.
Willick still keeps up on her hockey news.
She’s pretty darn sharp.
It’s hard to keep her away from the hockey rink.
She’s retired more than once, but always comes back.
“When I was 65, they thought I should retire — my kids especially,” she admits. “The caretaker who had it then for a couple of years, she had enough. I got it back because nobody else wanted it. Over the years, you train people more to help. It’s a fun thing.”
Christmas holidays are coming up, and Willick’s presence at the rink would be a present to all.
“I volunteer most years on Boxing Day because all these kids are home,” she says. “We’ll see if it happens again.”
And those keys?
“They don’t ask for them,” she says with a laugh. “And I don’t turn them in.”
dzary@postmedia.com
