Hi all,

Thanks for your patience during yesterday's upgrade debacle. I've spent some time working in IT, but whenever I have to get down and dirty with this phpBB software, it pushes me to my technological limits. So despite thinking more than once yesterday that I completely gassed the whole lot of board content, everything seems to be safe and sound. I can build rinks, but I think I'm learning that I cannot administer message boards. I'll accept that.

You've obviously noticed that the board style has changed a bit. We were using a 3-year-old version of the board software, and with the upgrade to the latest stable release, our old style is no longer supported. I like the look and feel of this one, although I'll need to fiddle around a bit more with things like the top banner and whatnot. Also, if you find anything that appears broken, strange-looking, or otherwise warrants attention, please shoot me a PM or email me at joe@backyard-hockey.com.

Above all, thanks for adding your pictures, thoughts, questions, and expertise. What we're building is both a community and a database of rink thoughts and solutions, and it's been fun to see. I particularly love seeing the rink rookies from a couple years ago giving seasoned advice, which is how the backyard rink community thrives both in person, and on boards like this and others. Good stuff.

Finally, a thanks to the omnipresent KevMac, who is always around greeting new members, answering questions, and helping moderate the board. Couldn't do this without you!

Yours in cold weather,

Joe