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01/31/2018 07:30 AMIce skaters know there’s nothing quite like being the first out on the ice after it’s been cleaned up between sessions—the surface is perfectly smooth; each kick forward tracks a fresh trail onto the pristine surface. As good as that is, Bob Consolatore can top it.
When groundbreaking began for the DiLungo Ice Rink in the early ‘70s, Bob and a friend went down every day to see the progress. Once the framing was up, they got to go inside.
“You could smell the fresh paint in that hockey rink,” Bob says.
Since the two were always there, when the rink was finally ready the person in charge of taking care of the ice eventually asked them to get two more people to skate on the ice to test it. He and three others got skate to for an hour.
“It was beautiful,” Bob says, “I can remember that the ice had like a fog to it because it was in the summer and it was the first time skating. The way it was, there was just kind of a fog around some of the ice, and I don’t even think the color of the lines were down yet.”
They got to see the locker rooms and the showers, with everything freshly painted and brand new. At the same time the hockey rink was constructed, Bob says the town swimming pool, a new wing of the old high school on Tyler Street, and a new football field were also completed.
“They did all that in that one year of our senior year,” Bob says, “We were the first to use the pool, we were the first to use the hockey rink, first to have the new wing, and the new football field…by ‘74 everything was ready to use.”
Bob, a professional photographer, has stayed involved with the town’s Recreation Department, working at the beach during summers and teaching tennis to kids during the sport’s offseason. Three years ago, Director of Recreation Louis Pane asked Bob if he wanted to be a skate guard during the winter, and he’s been back on the ice ever since.
As a skate guard, he watches kids to make sure they’re not fooling around or eating and drinking on the ice. As a player in the inaugural year for a winning East Haven High School hockey team, he was a good choice for a skate guard.
“I still remember all that, and I still skate pretty good,” Bob says, “I’m still pretty fast.”
Bob says, “My mind still thinks about the games I played. I scored a goal in the very first game…we had a great season.”
As a photographer, Bob has also shot “many, many hockey games.” Bob says he and his son Robert, Jr., often work together, shooting photos and video from two perspectives.
Bob says it’s nice to have more than one person at weddings or sports because he can’t be everywhere at once and might miss some good shots. He started teaching his son the craft at five years old, and Bob says his son has always had the talent for it, even at a young age.
Though he can’t pick a favorite subject he likes to shoot, he does have some photos that are memorable to him. A favorite is an image of a little boy from one of the schools in town who was crying and “falling off the stool” while sitting for a portrait, but Bob was able to good shot of him.
“It was my best shot of the year, and when I show people that—the power of that image, I have people say ‘Oh my God, I love that shot,’” Bob says.
His work has also won appreciation from his peers. Bob recalls a time where he planned to skip a photographer’s convention to watch the Super Bowl with his son, but was told to come to the convention because he was winning a “big award.” He ended up winning in the Wedding Candid of the Year category, and says it was a special feeling because the image was projected on a big screen and other photographers were applauding it.
“You work so hard in your field, and when you’re going to get recognition like that, it’s pretty special,” Bob says.