Tom is in the news!

For the 3 (out of 5) awards the city handed out for great buildings? Nope.

For the zamboni!

Here's the picture from the front page of the Guelph Mercury in today's paper. (Kurtis was a little upset he wasn't in the picture. I don't blame him - poor kid. The photographer actually did include him as he's beside Joshua, but I guess they had to cut him out when putting the picture in the paper). I also got a kick out of how they brought "insurance" issues into the article and that the city is going to be investigating safety concerns. Give me a break.....


Zamboni brings big-league touch to neighbourhood skating rink
Developer trades shovel for snow-clearing machine to help maintain ice surface
THANA DHARMARAJAH

DARREN CALABRESE, GUELPH MERCURY
Joshua Sheahan chases a laughing Ryan Lammer, 5, who rides along as his dad Tom Lammer drives a Zamboni down Crestwood Place. Lammer, a neighbourhood volunteer, was tired of clearing the outdoor rink at St. George's Park with a shovel, so he bought the used snow-clearing machine in Milton.


GUELPH (Feb 20, 2007)
Local developer Tom Lammer got tired of shovelling the ice rink at St. George's Park, so he bought himself a Zamboni.
The bright blue-and-white snow-clearing machine can occasionally be seen heading down the street to the park, located near Metcalfe and Palmer streets.
Lammer said time constraints kept him from contributing more often to neighbourhood duties.
"I wasn't able to put in the hours I would've liked to," he said, "so I just brought a big shovel to the job. I thought it would be a smart thing to do."
So now what would take two hours takes him a mere 15 minutes.
Neighbourhood committee members take turns maintaining and operating the outdoor rinks in the city.
The city assists during major snowstorms and provides neighbourhood groups with hoses to flood the rinks.
Lammer said he bought the used Zamboni in Milton in mid-July, the perfect time to get a deal.
He wouldn't reveal how much he shelled out for the machine, which he keeps stored in his garage.
"It is no more than the cost of a good snowblower, that's how I justified the expense," Lammer said.
"It sounds like a neat idea," said Jeff Schroeder, who helps maintain the ice rink at Exhibition Park.
"It would be a fun toy and it would be faster," he said.
Schroeder said the cost and the difficulty of storing it would deter him from doing something similar.
But he said he has often thought of asking the nearby arena about borrowing their Zamboni.
Ian Haras, supervisor of park activity with the City of Guelph, said there's no bylaw that Zambonis can't be used to clear off neighbourhood ice rinks.
"It's so unusual," he said. "Ice rinks are maintained by volunteers. We allow them some latitude with maintaining these rinks."
He added the city will examine safety concerns resulting from using snow-clearing machines such as Zambonis on outdoor rinks to prevent accidents.
Meanwhile, Lammer said he's mindful of legal concerns and said his Zamboni is insured and only operated in the late evenings when people aren't using the rink.
tdharmarajah@guelphmercury.com


The following picture is on the website for the Guelph Mercury but it actually appeared in the Toronto Sun yesterday on page 6.... a huge black and white picture with the title "Now that's Canadian!".

Tom Lammer drives his Zamboni across Palmer Street.