Home Team: After 47 Years, Bloomington Ice Garden's Bob Carr Hangs Up The Skates
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Sometimes a job finds you, and never lets you go. Bob Carr showed up to work at Bloomington Ice Garden almost a half-century ago and said goodbye to his career working there in many capacities just last week.
In 1974, Bob Carr took a job helping run the Bloomington Ice Gardens. As his time there came to a close, 47 years of memories came flooding back.
The North Stars practiced there, as did the 1980 Olympic hockey team.
But the joy of his journey was that the building got bigger, one rink after another; the ice sheets are now filled year round. There was also the room he built to facilitate the facility. He lived there in his own way.
Then there was the once-storied Jefferson-Kennedy rivalry.
"Whenever they had the inter-city battle, it was always a good game. Good crowds, and even if one team was better than the other, it didn't matter," he said.
But more than anything, it was never about the building. That was the back drop. The joy was in coming into it.
"You maintain the building, and then the people come. You get people on your staff that want to do a good job. It's all about people," he said.
On his final day, they allowed him to drive the Zamboni one more time, to feel the ice and to feel 47 years of a dream job.
"Can't take (the memories) away. Just hang on to them," he said.