Volunteers revamping outdoor roller rink in Highland Township, Michigan

A roller hockey rink in Highland Township, Michigan, used to be a hot spot for kids to play, but over the last 20 years, it's fallen into disrepair.

"It's a riot. It's outside, so you're not cold, you don't have to wear all the equipment, you wear most of it, but not all of it, but it's just a different style of hockey," said Joey LaFlamme, who is helping fix up the rink. 

LaFlamme said in the early 2000s, this rink was the place to be. 

"Everything was very well taken care of, and it was beautiful. There used to be times that you couldn't even get up here; you would have to wait an hour to play. There were so many people here," he said.

But in the years since he left for college, weeds and even trees started growing in the beloved rink. In the last couple of months, the township put the word out that the rink needed some care, or they were going to put in an RC track. 

"It would have been three weeks ago this weekend. Now, we had about 40 people here. We were able to clear all the weeds and the trees that were growing in here," LaFlamme said. 

All that work by volunteers certainly helped —but the rink needs a lot more. These major cracks need to be filled, the white paneling needs to be bolted down, and LaFlamme said the fencing needs to be bent back into place. The group Duck Lake Hokey Rink is accepting donations, but LaFlamme said there are even better ways to help. 

"More volunteer hours right now would be really nice to help us keep moving," he said. 

With a little more work this summer, the rink could host its first tournament in years.