80-year-old P.E.I. ice maker still takes pride in his job after 26 years

At 80 years old, Billy Keough is still as solid as the ice he tends.

The beloved ice maker at the Credit Union Arena in Tignish, P.E.I., celebrated that milestone birthday over the weekend with the help of the rink's workers and his family and friends.

Keough has been driving the Zamboni at the arena for 26 years and likes his ice to be as smooth as glass.

"I've been in the rink, involved in hockey since, well, forever," he said. "Basically that's all I do is make ice right now. I'm having a pretty good time."

'I needed a job'

Keough has played and coached sports most of his life, which is evident as he spryly climbs on and off of the ice machine.

He took on the ice-making duties at the western P.E.I. arena in his 50s after retiring from fishing.

"I needed a job," he laughed.

And it's a job Keough has done well for the past two decades, said arena president Gary McRae.

Tignish arena president Gary McRae says Billy Keough is 'hard to beat' as the rink's ice maker. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)

"He's always here, dependable, he's as honest as you're gonna get. He likes it pretty good whenever referees come in and tell him how good his ice is. He takes pretty good pride in his job," McRae said.

"We leave here at 11:30 at night after we play hockey and he's walking around the ice with a flower pot full of water fixing all the little holes and going all along the edges. He's hard to beat."

The workers at the arena threw him an 80th birthday party over the weekend, something that clearly touched even the no-nonsense ice man.

Workers at the Tignish arena recently threw an 80th birthday party for longtime ice maker Billy Keough. (Submitted by Gary McRae)

"It felt awful good," Keough said. "What really made my day was … the little kids, girls and boys, that were coming on the ice, they all skated over and sang Happy Birthday to me."

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Keough said he plans on retiring from ice making soon and is looking forward to more time playing golf this summer.

After that, he still wants to stay busy, even if it's not at the rink.

"I'm going to look for something to do, a little job next winter," he said. "Inside, somewhere it's warmer. Getting too cold in [the arena]."