Putting on a delightful show for all in attendance, the Border Skating Club held their 36th-annual ice show over the weekend, ushering family and friends into the musical cartoon world of Disney Magic. The season-ending show saw dozens of local skaters take to the ice in celebration of 75 years of Disney movie magic. The show allowed skaters to run the gamut of Disney characters, from the iconic Tinkerbell to the star of the hottest kid’s show on the air today, Hannah Montana. As the skaters each made their entrance, the combination of costumes and music was spectacular. “This has been a busy season for our skaters and coaches,” BSC president Lori Ford wrote in her letter to skaters and their families. “I would like to congratulate all on their achievements this year.” BSC coach Penny McComb echoed Ford’s sentiments and spoke to the grand project that is the ice show. “It takes several individuals working as a team to create a great club,” she noted. “The ice show is a huge undertaking. “This year, Delanie McLeod and Leana Moffitt went beyond their duties and found all of the costumes.” Indeed, the costumes were exquisite and brought the Disney show to life for the nearly-packed Ice for Kids Arena. Just as a cartoon Tinkerbell opens each Disney movie or television show, girls in the CanSkate ‘A’ program opened the ice show—complete with magic wands and fairy wings. A massive group of senior skaters next took to the ice in full pirate gear, performing perfectly-choreographed sword fights and battles as part of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” performance. With Michael Nelson taking on the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow, the performance was near-flawless. It was the largest single performance of the evening and was stunning in its execution. In addition to the club’s talented lineup, two guest skaters were on hand, as well. Michaela and Scott Botsford of London, Ont. took part in the shows to the delight of skaters and patrons alike. The siblings have been skating together for six years and have found success at every level of competition. In addition to the silver medals they earned at the 2006 BMO Junior Canadian Figure Skating Championships, the Botsfords broke the Canadian scoring record in the Pre-Novice category at the Western Challenge event in Mississauga in December. With family and friends on hand, the visiting duo performed first to music from “The Little Mermaid” before wrapping up their night dancing to “Ramalama Bang Bang.” The weekend also saw the final performances of a pair of graduating seniors. Samantha Loveday and Alexa Buttner made their last outing as members of the club. Loveday teamed with Shane Katona for a delightful personification of Snow White and Prince Charming while Buttner took on the role of Princess Jasmine, from the movie “Aladdin.” From here, Buttner is planning to move on to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, where she will pursue a career in accounting, while Loveday is hoping to go into the nursing field. The program also gave Sophie Potvin-Begin and Michael Nelson the chance to show off the moves that landed them the gold medal in the Introductory Pairs event at the 2008 Trillium STARSkate Championships in Waterloo earlier in the year. The pair dazzled the crowd—displaying the type of talent that’s being produces by the Border Skating Club. With additional performances paying homage to “Toy Story,” “Ratatouille,” “The Jungle Book,” and “Cars,” among others, audiences saw a pair of fabulous shows over the weekend. Sunday afternoon also gave the club the chance to hand out its season-ending awards. Taylor Croswell received the CanSkate of the Year award while Samantha McKinnon and Zechariah McDougall were honoured as CanSkate Champions. Jayde Wright, Katelin Gurniak, and Chelsey Skirten all received recognition for “Most Improved CanSkate” while “Most Improved Primary” went to Emma Kunkel (dance), Kelli Cole (skills), and Hannah McLeod (free). “It seemed to be a banner year for the Border Skating Club,” said Ford.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
