A banner welcomes skaters to the newly-dedicated Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink in Wright Township. The rink opened to the public on Sunday after a group of community members raised almost $50,000 to fix the rink up.
                                 Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

A banner welcomes skaters to the newly-dedicated Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink in Wright Township. The rink opened to the public on Sunday after a group of community members raised almost $50,000 to fix the rink up.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

Facility honors Brian Madry, Tanner Kahlau

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<p>Dayne Wadas, 8, of Kingston takes shots on goal at the Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink on Sunday evening.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

Dayne Wadas, 8, of Kingston takes shots on goal at the Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink on Sunday evening.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

WRIGHT TWP. — The sounds of skates on ice and a stick hitting a puck might not seem out of the ordinary this time of the year, but for the Mountain Top community, it’s been a long time coming.

The newly-dedicated Madry-Kahlau Memorial Rink officially opened to the public on Sunday after some much-needed work from members of the community who restored the rink from a state of disrepair to a rink worthy of its namesakes, Brian Madry and Tanner Kahlau.

Madry and Kahlau were both standout hockey players at different times in the Crestwood School District. Madry was killed in a car accident in 2011, and Kahlau died in a skiing accident on Jan. 12.

Efforts made to clean up and restore the old Wright Township Ice Rink, which hadn’t even had ice on it in at least six years, were intensified in the wake of Kahlau’s death, spearheaded by Kahlau’s friend and teammate Jared McCune.

According to McCune, who spoke with the Times Leader last week while preparing the rink to be ready for public use, many memories had been made on that ice, and Kahlau would be thrilled to see it back to its former glory.

Even late in the afternoon on Sunday, it was apparent how much the newly-made ice had been used. Two goals sat on opposite sides of the rink, with one wall adorned with a banner displaying the rink’s new name.

On the ice, 8-year-old Dayne Wadas, who plays for the Junior Penguins was practicing his slapshot on an empty net, while his sister Kenadee, 6, worked on her figure skating. The children were both enthusiastic in their reviews of the new ice.

“We’ve been following some of the posts on Facebook about the rink,” said Jennifer Wadas, the mother of the two. “I’m so glad it’s finally open.”

Wadas and her family are from Kingston, but jumped at the chance to use the Madry-Kahlau rink.

“I thought it would be crowded, but we’re here at the right time,” Wadas said. “Dayne had a hockey game earlier, but we wanted to get here and test it out before dark.”

The GoFundMe McCune started to raise money for the restoration project is still active as of Sunday night, and closing in on $50,000 from 737 different donors.