Cokato on Ice: Part 2

Revised Article by Johanna Ellison from the Cokato Historical Society's newsletter In the Midst Of, September, 2018, Vol. 38 No. 4. ​

Dassel-Cokato Youth Hockey. Date unknown.

​In December of 1955, the skating rink moved from Peterson Park to Mooers Park. At first, the new skating rink, lined by snow banks, only saw scrimmages, shinnies, and rink ratting. In fact, an organized league did not touch the ice until Forrest (Butch) Amundsen, representing the Cokato Jaycees, approached the Cokato Village Council on July 12, 1971, about the city providing a youth hockey program. In addition, Amundsen proposed plans for enlarging the skating rink and building hockey boards. As a result to Amundson, the Cokato Businessmen Association, and the Jaycees efforts, that winter Cokato Hockey Association featured, in December of 1971, not only an improved hockey rink, but also a Squirts (under 10 years), and Bantams team (age 12-14). Eventually, the Cokato Hockey Association added Peewees, Mites, Midgets, and Juveniles teams. Although these teams were primarily comprised of boys, a couple of girls briefly entered the ranks in the early 1980s—Sara Keskey and Sonja Lund. Unfortunately, a girls’ team would not form until approximately a decade later.

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