By Ericka Kastner
Growing up in Minnesota, there was one gift my brother and I could always count on each year: a new pair of ice skates for Christmas. Replacing the ones we’d outgrown the previous year, we’d tie the skates together and toss them over our shoulders on the way out the door to school each morning, with plans to skate at the nearby rink at the park later in the day. I grew up loving skating and missed having such easy access to ice for my own children as I raised them in Salida.