Skaters have fun during the free skate at the outdoor ice oval on Saturday. Submitted photos

Prince George, B.C. – It’s a time of year for giving, and that’s just what the people at the Outdoor Ice Oval Society decided to do on this final weekend before Christmas.

After clearing the oval of the fair bit of snow that fell Friday, the folks who run the facility on a volunteer basis hosted a Holiday Skate from noon till 3pm on Saturday, and it was absolutely free.

They had free skating, free hot chocolate, free music and you could even try out a pair of speed skates to see if that might be your thing.

Of course what would a skate be without a good wipeout or two?

There was just a handful of people on the ice in the early going but things picked up considerably once that pesky shopping was out of the way and it appeared people had an enjoyable time skating on the top notch ice surface.