[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING SNOOPY'S HOME ICE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

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                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 7, 2019

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today with 
Congressman Jared Huffman to honor Snoopy's Home Ice on its 50th 
anniversary.
  Snoopy's Home Ice, also known as the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, opened 
on Monday, April 28th in 1969. Snoopy's was built and owned by Charles 
M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip. Snoopy's is the only 
permanent ice rink between Oakland and the Oregon border serving 
California coastal communities. The 33,500-foot facility welcomes over 
110,000 skaters a year and has been a venue for ice skating 
performances, skating lessons, hockey games, tennis matches, and 
concerts. The Santa Rosa Figure Skating Club, Santa Rosa Junior Hockey 
Club, Snoopy's Adult Hockey League, and the Santa Rosa Junior College 
hockey team all call Snoopy's Home Ice their home.
  Snoopy's Home Ice is the home of the Snoopy's Senior World Hockey 
Tournament, which was started in 1975 by Mr. Schulz. The annual event 
draws over 50 teams of players aged 40 to 96 from all over the world to 
play more than 100 games. Teams have traveled from numerous countries, 
including those as far away as Japan, Austria, and Australia. Snoopy's 
Senior World Hockey Tournament has brought in an estimated $5.8 million 
per summer to Sonoma County. The arena also hosted holiday ice shows 
from 1986 until 2003. The shows had elaborate choreography performed by 
many well-known and respected skaters.
  Madam Speaker, Snoopy's Home Ice has not only been a recreational 
facility for the last fifty years, it has been a place for our 
community to gather, children to celebrate birthdays, families to 
celebrate holidays, and the site of numerous sporting events. It is 
therefore fitting and proper that we honor its 50th anniversary here 
today.

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