Community Corner
From Driving Zambonis to Managing Apple Valley's Ice Arenas: Meet Gary Pietig
After 35 years in the business, Apple Valley arena manager Gary Pietig says working with people is the best part of his job.
Anyone who has spent time at the Apple Valley Sports Arena or the Hayes Park Arena has probably met Gary Pietig.
Pietig has dutifully cared for both Apple Valley complexes—and by default, the people who use them—since 1976. Antiques and memorabilia from his years in the business line his office shelves and cover the walls.
But while maintaining all aspects of the buildings and managing employees now rank high on Pietig’s daily to-do list, his path to arena manager started with one task: driving the Zamboni, the ice-smoothing machine named after inventor Frank Zamboni, who also is pictured on Pietig’s office wall.
Ice resurfacers, as they are technically called, are a staple in every ice arena—a veritable mascot for ice sports.
When Pietig left the service as a young man, he stumbled upon a driving job at the Bloomington Ice Garden, he said. He now considers himself lucky to have been in the business for so long, he said.
"People who usually come to the arenas come for entertainment, so you see the best sides of them,” he said. “It's a fun environment."
Training to be a Zamboni driver is as easy as having a driver's license and watching an instructional video, Pietig said, and involves just a bit of trial and error to get the hang of.
"Someone who is half-coordinated can pick it up in a day's time," Pietig said.
The Hayes arena actually has a Zamboni brand machine, Pietig said, while the Apple Valley Sports Arena has an Olympia brand. Regardless of the official name, most people best know any ice resurfacer as “the Zamboni.”
The function of one of these machines is to shave off a layer of ice on an ice rink, then lay down a layer of water, which will freeze and recondition the ice to a smooth surface.
Each machine is stored in a garage adjacent to the rink, Pietig said, and is plugged in at night so the batteries can recharge. Each charge allows for about 12 rink resurfaces, he said.
Both machines also are electric in an effort to be more environmentally conscious, Pietig said, addressing concerns about emissions being released in closed buildings. Other models run on propane or natural gas.
But perhaps the most popular feature of the machines among rink-goers is the attachment that allows for ridealongs.
"At hockey games, many kids come up and just ask for a ride, and we do it," Pietig said.
In fact, despite the seemingly isolated nature of the Zamboni-driving portion of the job, building relationships with students, teachers, coaches and staff is a prominent and enjoyable aspect of being arena manager, Pietig said.
"Being around all of the kids keeps me young," he said. Many players start in the mite program for hockey and move up through high school, which makes for a special camaraderie at the rink.
"I love working with people,” Pietig said. “You get to know them throughout the years, and that's definitely the best part."
