If there’s one thing you can’t get enough of in Sacramento, it’s having chills run down your spine as you visit its most haunted locations.
And one of these places is the Iceland Skating Rink.
Opened in 1940, the oldest rink in the city has a prominent ghost who’s been known to make rounds before dawn at 4 a.m.
Photo credit left: flickr/thomashawk right: auctionserver/propstore
Updated 9/23/2019 – But that’s just one of the things that go bump on the ice.
If this makes your paranormal senses tingle, wait ’till you find out what’s in store for you there.
Get Ready to Meet “Pops” Kerth (If You Dare!)
On the record, “Pops” Kerth was the father of Rob Kerth, Sacramento city councilman and mayoral candidate.
He’s also the man who built and owned the ice rink, spending most of his time taking care of every detail and ensuring that everyone had a fun time there.
This dedication carried on even after he passed away, which is why he regularly checks on the ice skating rink.
If you ever come across him, you’re safe as long as you don’t try doing anything to his precious establishment.
Damaging the ice rink in any way brings out his bad side.
Pops has been known to lash out, at times clawing at vandals or shouting at them.
A few mediums who tried communicating with him report that he has lost his humanity by obsessing over the rink.
In fact, those who saw him lurk around the rink claim that he has “unkempt facial hair and blood-red eyes that have death deep within them”.
His obsession with the Iceland Ice Skating Rink is believed to be the reason for the fire that burned the establishment in 2010.
While the police reported the incident as an act of arson, paranormal investigators have felt something “evil to the core” around the area.
Pops may have had enough with everyone ruining the results of his hard work and decided to start again.
Photo credit: auctionserver/propstore
That’s why he decided to begin anew.
Since then, he’s been spotted with a smile that its witnesses are yet to decide whether it’s friendly or evil.
But, Wait… There’s More to the Oldest Ice Skating Rink in Sacramento
Pops Kerth isn’t the only entity that you may come across at the Iceland Ice Skating Rink.
Many skaters have felt ghostly hands tap on their shoulders or even grab at their ankles to trip them.
Some have heard a baby cry and Chris Lord, the person in charge of the factory which manufactures the ice, has heard someone greet him whenever he stepped into the rink after hours.
Lord has seen much more though.
He told paranormal investigators that he had seen orbs floating around the arena and even has a picture of four orbs making their way around the ring in unison.
Another forever resident at 1430 Del Paso Boulevard is that of a gentleman who used to sit at the coffee shop located in the rink’s lobby area.
According to Becky Magnuson, dancer and Sacramento resident, she saw a man who “appeared to be watching the skaters, and to be reading a newspaper at times, dressed appropriately for the arena, fedora hat, long coat”.
She interacted with him 8-10 times during the late 1970s when she used to visit the rink regularly.
Though she couldn’t distinguish his features, but she knew he loved skating as much as she did.