Skate Amherstburg presents 50th anniversary ice show

By Ron Giofu

Skate Amherstburg presented its annual ice show last weekend with this year being a milestone performance.

This year’s ice show was held before a large audience at the Libro Centre Sunday afternoon with it being the 50th show ever. The organization, formerly the Tri-Community Figure Skating Club, started in 1971 and held its first show in 1972. They moved from the AMA Arena to the Libro Centre in 2010 and have run shows annually except for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This means a lot to everyone in the club,” explained president Lynn Fox.

Noting “the club has been around for a long time,” Fox said that is due to many skaters, coaches and volunteers helping out over the years. A lot stick around after their performing days wrap up and become coaches and help in other ways.

“A lot of skaters give back,” said Fox. “It really is a reason that we’ve lasted as long as we have.”

Fox called it “a celebration of everything that has happened through the years” and they came up with the ice show them “Solid Gold Hits” last September. On-ice work for the show actually began in January after skaters added additional skills to their reperatoires.

Fox thanked everyone who came out to the show Sunday but also for the support throughout the years.

“Without all of the people here, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” she said. “The Libro Centre staff is amazing. They treated us well.”

Some coaches have been around since the beginning of the organization, including Janet Beaulieu, Cathy Fox and Lisa Neufeld, all of whom joined as skaters in 1971. Shelley Knapp was not far behind, joining about two years later.

“It’s been a long time,” said Cathy. “When the town was getting the arena (in 1971), all of the kids were excited to skate indoors. We were all skating on creeks.”

Cathy added “it was nice to see the kids have something to do” when the AMA Arena opened. She said there have been a lot of changes over the years, including different boards running the club. Cathy recalled the 25th anniversary celebration.

“It was hard to believe we had 25 years at that time,” she said. “Now, here we are at 50.”

One of the additions Neufeld recalled was the addition of synchro teams about 20 years ago.

“Some of the original synchro girls are still doing it,” she said. “They’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

Enrolment in Skate Amherstburg has had its peaks and valleys, she added, with high points usually occurring after the Olympics. Beaulieu added there have been changes in judging over the years as skaters try to improve their skills.

The long-time coaches also pointed out the contributions of other members, including Sharon Kawai, who has helped with costumes for the last 19 or so years. It has also become a family tradition with many, as skaters from previous years are passing their skills down to their own children.

Bob and Kristy Browning and grandson Caden Ruth were at a 50th anniversary reception last Friday evening. Kristy said three generations of their family have skated. They said they wanted to reconnect with their own times on the ice, with Caden also starting his own skating career last September.