Curing winter boredom

Although winter in Iowa can be filled with large amounts of snow and below zero temperatures, weekends can still be filled with joy through these winter activities.

Frozen Landing, an outdoor ice skating rink, is put on by the city of Bettendorf every winter. It is located directly next to Splash Landing on the corner of Middle Road and 23rd Street.

Senior Veronika Larson has worked at Frozen Landing for three years and thinks of the staff as a part of her family.

“I keep returning to Frozen Landing every winter because of how great the community is. It’s a great work atmosphere, and I’ve taken on more leadership each year,” Larson said.

Admission at Frozen Landing is $1, and skates are an additional $2. However, skaters are not required to rent skates from the facility and are welcome to bring their own pair.

The ice rink is open now until March 1, 2020.

When the winter weather is too cold to skate outside, The TBK Sports Complex provides bowling, laser tag, arcade rooms, escape rooms, batting cages, volleyball and basketball courts, and a soccer field.

“I have worked at TBK Sports Complex since April, and bowling is definitely the most popular activity,” senior Haylie Spencer said.

Prices at the bowling alley vary by days of the week. On weekdays, it is $3.50 per game and another $3.50 for bowling shoes. Over the weekend, a game is $4.50, and shoes are also $4.50.

The bowling alleys are open all year.

For a free winter activity, Christmas light shows have become increasingly popular in the past few years.

People who host the light shows hang thousands of lights outside of their homes and time the light shows to different songs. Spectators can drive to the homes, park on the street to view and turn on their car radios to the stations set up by the hoster with the timed songs playing to the lights.

Junior Carter Wolf has been designing his family’s light show for five years.

This year, Wolf’s show features songs from “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and Christmas classics. The production premiered on Dec 1, but Wolf has been designing the lights on a computerized program for weeks.

“For each song, it usually takes me around 20 hours to program the 13,000 lights,” Wolf said.

Weather permitting, the show will be available every night to December on Navajo Drive in Bettendorf. If raining, the show may be canceled.