|
| Wayne Doughty wants his son to play his favorite sport |
Staff Photo by Ken Bradley:
Wayne Doughty and his son, Christian, stand outside the ice hockey rink Doughty has built in the backyard of his home for his son to use to develop his skating and hockey skills. |
Monday, February 13, 2012
By KEN BRADLEY - Staff Writer
Wayne Doughty of Ferrum is known as the "Iceman" to those who know him through his business.
And one could say ice runs through his veins.
As a profession, Doughty has a cooling, refrigeration and heating business.
The name of his business -- It's Iceman.
The "Iceman" is now applying his knowledge of cooling and refrigeration to a new project in the backyard of his house -- an ice hockey rink where his 7-year-old son, Christian, can learn to play ice hockey.
The rink is 30 by 60 feet in size. It is surrounded by large tall poles that anchor and hold up high fencing around the rink.
At first glance, it looks like a below ground swimming pool, except for its depth, which is about 12 inches or less.
Doughty said he can freeze water pumped into the rink with a heat pump, and a mixing and filtering system that uses a calcium chloride solution.
"At present, I can get the rink area adequately frozen for skating when the outside temperature is 38 degrees or less," said Doughty. "I'm shooting to freeze the rink when the outside temperature is 45 to 50 degrees."
"It's still a work in progress," Doughty added.
Doughty's love of ice hockey runs deep.
He grew up in Bristol, Penn., where ice hockey was king.
"My mom and dad were huge fans of the Philadelphia Flyers when I was growing up," said Doughty, "and I played on an ice hockey team from the seventh grade through high school."
"My whole family is hockey nuts," Doughty added.
His parents, Joan and Wayne Doughty, moved to Franklin County about six years ago, " and my wife and I followed them down to Franklin County."
"My son seems to like playing ice hockey, so I guess that's why I decided to build the ice rink," said Doughty.
Doughty still plays ice hockey on an adult team at the civic center in Roanoke. His son also plays ice hockey on a kids team in Roanoke.
Doughty said his wife, Laura, also skates and their 3-year-old daughter, Caela, is starting to skate.
Doughty said the ice hockey rink at his home has been a labor of love for about the last eight to 10 months.
Doughty, 34, is a 1996 graduate from Pennsbury High School in Pennsylvania. He also graduated from a 3-year technology school where he studied cooling, refrigeration and heating.
Doughty said he has no timeline on getting the ice hockey rink to the finished project stage.
"It's just a matter of time and money," he said.
Doughty's home is on Route 40 West about a mile from the Ferrum Minute Market. His home is easily spotted by the business sign in front of his house that proclaims "Iceman" along with information about his services. |
| |
