SAGINAW SKATES • A Celebration of Winter Magic at Hoyt Park

With one of the most beautiful and accessible skating and sledding facilities available in the Great Lakes Bay Region, The Friends of Hoyt Park, Positive Results in Downtown Saginaw, and the Saginaw County Parks & Recreation department are once again joining forces up to pull together a fun-filled smorgasbord of unique Winter outdoor activities for the 2026 installment of Saginaw Skates at Hoyt Park, which will begin on Saturday, January 17^th and conclude with the Pajama Skate on Saturday, February 21st.

As an added bonus, this year will also mark the inaugural launch of the 1^st Annual Hoyt Park POND HOCKEY Tournament, which will happen the evening of Friday, February 13^th, with a game under the lights and continue throughout the weekend until February 15^th, and feature Men’s A-B-C- and Women’s divisions.

While keeping fingers crossed for cold temperatures, plans are moving forward to feature Free Open Skating, Hockey & Sledding, affordable $2.00 skate rentals along with equally affordable sled rentals, and free hot chocolate & cookies served at Hoyt Park’s renovated warming house, along with several new events designed to make the most out of these winter months. Saginaw County Parks & Recreation, Jolt Credit Union, and Meijer have been long-standing sponsors of this event, and new this year is Isabella Bank, which has joined in to help support this winter tradition.

During the 1920’s when Hoyt Park was at its peak during the winter months, as many as 7,000 patrons would converge upon this expansive skating & sledding resource in one day, while averaging 100,000 skaters every winter; and throughout the decades, it has remained the crown jewel of Saginaw’s parks & recreational programs. With the downturn in population and diminished financial resources, in 2003, the City of Saginaw could no longer afford to maintain the facility, so in 2008, a concerned group of Saginaw citizens came together to help resurrect and maintain the historic park, forming a grassroots citizen group called The Friends of Hoyt Park.   

Spearheaded by Larry Brethauer and Chris Packard, the Friends of Hoyt Park Board went to the city and signed a lease to bring the park back to life.  Since that fateful date, the success and popularity of their endeavors have proven to be a phenomenal grass-roots success, bringing baseball back to the historic facility, spearheading a $400,000 renovation to make the historic warming house operational for staging these popular annual winter events.

Friends of Hoyt Park didn’t stop there, as fundraising for more park upgrades continues through the years, totaling more than $3 million to date thanks to a contribution from the City of Saginaw’s ARPA funds, and a capstone project as one of Saginaw Spirit’s Memorial Cup Legacy Projects. The Legacy Project renovations saw conversion to LED baseball/skating lighting, a digital entry sign, aluminum bleachers with shade tops replacing the original wood bleachers, the addition of a 6^th ball diamond, and a pavilion complete with a fireplace to keep winter enthusiasts’ cozy.

Since its inception and depending upon the weather, these events average between 300 to 1000 people for any given event. With the annual  Outhouse Races the park will draw as many as 2000 attendees.

With a litany of new theme night events in addition to the introduction of Pond Hockey Tournaments to Hoyt Park, recently the REVIEW sat down with Positive Results Downtown Executive Director Ann Marie Batkoski-Sullivan and Friends of Hoyt Park event coordinator and park director Chico Ramos to get a closer more detailed look at the ambitious outdoor schedule of events they have planned over the next five weeks.

Here’s a breakdown of the schedule: 

• Night Skate Kick-Off Event with Glow Sticks • Saturday, January 17 • 4:00 - 7:00 PM.

With the beautiful lights circling Hoyt Park turned on for skating and sledding enthusiasts to enjoy evening outdoor use of the park, each child receives a free glow stick while event sponsor Kiss 107.1 conducts a live remote to supply music to accompany your time on the ice.

• Skate It Off! • A Swiftie Skate • Saturday, January 24 • Noon - 4 PM.  

With this new event kids, fans, an skaters of all ages can skate to the music of Taylor Swift songs and are encouraged to dress up in their favorite Swiftie outfit. According to Ann Marie, she is also working on setting up a ‘Selfie’ station so they can take pictures of one another.

• Hero’s Skate • Saturday, January 31 • Noon - 4 PM •

Sponsored by 102.5 WIOG and 96.1 WHNN, this new event is an opportunity to meet and skate with area first responders, including fire fighters, police officers, and others. Where kids and skaters can glide over the ice with some of our local heroes. 

• Skate with the Mascots (12:00 - 4 PM) & Broom Ball (1:00 - 3 PM) • Saturday, February 7

Skaters can have fun carving the ice with their favorite mascots, who will join them on the ice and participate in fun activities. This year the mascots will have a local flavor drawing upon mascot characters from the Saginaw Spirit, Texas Roadhouse and different local restaurants.  Broom Ball is a truly entertaining exercise involving the straw bottom at the end of a broom and a ball the size of a soccer ball, only made out of rubber.  Skaters attempt to sweep the ball into a net. Brooms and balls are provided and usually a mascot will play along with the kids. Because no blades are involve and you can also play Broom Ball in your shoes, you don’t need to skate in order to play the game, so it’s a little bit easier to play than hockey with blades.

• Pajama Skate • Saturday, February 21 • 12:00 - 4 PM

With this new event, because kids occasionally are allowed to wear their pajamas at school for a day, Annmarie says they wanted to take that idea to Hoyt Park and try it on the ice as well. “The warming house will be open, and this promises to be a fun way to close out this year’s events.”

• 12^th Annual Outhouse Races • Saturday, February 14 • Starts at 1:00 PM.  Plus New POND HOCKEY Action All Day!

The annual Outhouse Races have evolved into one of the most entertaining exhibitions of winter ingenuity featured in the region, if not the state of Michigan. Last year It was featured on ESPN nationally and draws people from Houghton Lake and all parts of the state as teams design a unique outhouse, put it on skis, and attendees watch as the teams attempt to pilot it to the finish line without falling in or off the crapper. Yes, this must simply be seen to be believed!

“Thanks to the national coverage on ESPN last year we had record crowds and record participation for the Outhouse Race, and I believe this year will be the same it not more,” enthuses Ann Marie. “We have six new entries signed up already - Huntington Bank, First State Bank, Misfit Motors, 1^st United Methodist, Kayak Saginaw and the Peanuts Gang will join returning entries TriStar Trust, Z93.3, Positive Results Downtown Saginaw, Spicy Pooper, Dynamic Corvette, and the Saginaw Area Fireworks. Last year we had 18 entries and so far we have 11 this year, but I believe we’ll have anywhere from 20 to 25 entries this year. We have a High School division with Heritage High and the Saginaw Career Complex competing last year and I’m hoping for a couple more this year. There will also be a sled giveaway on Saturday 2/14, taking place at the new pavilion atop the sledding hill.”

“Prize money will be $300 for the 1^st place winner $150 for the second-place, and $50 for the third-place winner.   This year, we’re also going to have a prize for the Best Decorated Outhouse, and if people would like to enter the Outhouse Races or need plans on how to build them, they should reach out to us.  There is no fee to enter, and it’s an experience you will never forget.”

People can sign up for the Outhouse Races up until February 4^th, and team registration begins at noon on February 14^th with the races starting at 1:00 PM. To obtain sign-up forms email annmarie@prideinsaginaw.org.

Debut of 1^st Annual Hoyt Park POND HOCKEY • Feb. 13-14-15

Friends of Hoyt Park event coordinator and park director Chico Ramos has been involved with Hoyt Park for over 20 years now, and as the former President of the local chapter of the Jets Softball started hosting tournaments at the park when he was approached by Ann Marie and Dick Garber when the Memorial Cup came to town a couple of years ago. After success with his endeavors, he was approached by Positive Results Downtown and others to take over Hoyt Park as event coordinator, and things have blossomed ever since - especially with the recent State Wide Modified Softball Tournament Finals hosted at the park last summer.

“I already had a ton of ideas for Hoyt Park and grew up in the Merrill Park area, and as a kid, loved playing hockey and snow sledding at the park,” he reflects. “I had a lot of ideas of how to get tournaments going at Hoyt Park, and a lot of friends who play hockey, so I tried to get a group together last year because we have fabulous ice, but everybody was too busy. We ended up putting a committee together, and the first day of sign-ups already had 12 teams, so now we’re at 14 teams and very excited about it.”

“We know there’s going to be eight teams max in each division and even have a Women’s division,” he continues,” and are hoping to get more women signed up. We don’t have any yet and I’m surprised because a lot of women’s organizations came and asked us to add one, so hopefully we can get that going.”

“People don’t have to be part of a team to play, and most of the teams are usually from the local hockey arena here in Saginaw. This is 18-and-over, so a lot of these guys are either semi-pro or out of high school and just want to play hockey, which is why we have three different divisions.  If people want to play, the deadline will be the first week of February.”

“All you need are four players to form a team. It’s a maximum of six players, and if anyone wants to organize a team, we can adjust the cost, because it's only $300.00 per team to enter, and out of that, they get a sweatshirt, a couple of drink tickets, and we have three division trophies for each of those three divisions plus a women’s trophy.”

The Pond Hockey Invitational will start all day Friday, February 13^th, and Chico says one or two games will be played under the lights in the evening. On Saturday, February 14^th, play will begin at 9:00 AM and then stop at noon when the Outhouse Races begin.  When the races are completed, hockey will resume around 2:00 PM and continue the following day on Sunday, February 15^th in the morning for the Championship Game if needed. Major sponsors include Nexteer Automotive, LiUNA Local 1098, and Riteway Automotive.

“Now that Hoyt Park has been completely renovated and the new pavilion is open, it’s got a fireplace in there, and people can also use the new outdoor firepit,” he adds. “People can also rent the pavilion for only $75.00 per day, which they should be aware of, as we rented it out eight times this past summer. The only thing you have to provide is a porta-potty.”

“With Pond Hockey, because there are no goalies, you don’t use nets but hockey boxes, which we have to build,” notes Chico. “That’s the only difference between skate hockey and the boxes are the same size as hockey nets and are low to the ground.  The rink is maybe 40 yards and has a groomer. If we get too much snow, we’ll call in a plow truck, but if not, we’ll brush it off.”

Chico is pleased and excited about the revitalization of Hoyt Park since the renovations. “We’re pretty much booked at the park every weekend this year with events from the beginning of April up to two weeks at the end of August, and then we have the Baseball Tournaments.”

For more information and to become involved as a volunteer, sponsor, or participant on any of these events you can contact Positive Results Downtown at 989-753-9168 or the Friends of Hoyt Park Facebook page.