Skate Guard

Discover The History Of Figure Skating!

Learn all about the fascinating world of figure skating history with Skate Guard Blog. Explore a treasure trove of articles on the history of figure skating, highlighting Olympic Medallists, World and National Champions and dazzling competitions, shows and tours. Written by former skater and judge Ryan Stevens, Skate Guard Blog also offers intriguing insights into the evolution of the sport over the decades. Delve into Stevens' five books for even more riveting stories and information about the history of everyone's favourite winter Olympic sport.

Halifax's Skating History (Part Four, From The Forties To The Future)

Violet Snair congratulating Joan Dorey at the 1949 Bluenose Skating Club competition (clipping from the local figure skating history collection at the Halifax Central Library on Spring Garden Road)

FROM THE FORTIES TO THE FUTURE

We have already looked at Halifax's first covered rink in what is today the Public Gardens, the grand Exhibition Building Rink and the legacy of pond skating here in Halifax. Why not take a trip forward in time in the time machine and look at how organized figure skating really developed in the city? By the early forties, the Halifax Skating Club (which operated for a time as the Halifax Skating Assembly) had applied to the Canadian Figure Skating Association for accreditation. The Club remained operational during World War II, during which time a talented young skater named Mary (Thorne) White dazzled audiences with her skating prowess.

Left: Clipping from "Skating" magazine, 1942. Right: Photo of Mary (Thorne) White.

By the sixties, the Halifax Skating Club was using the Dalhousie Memorial Rink as its home base, with its head coach being Alexander Balisch, a former Austrian Champion who emigrated to Canada's East Coast after a career touring Europe as a professional skater.

Alexander Balisch

Concurrently, the Bluenose Skating Club was in operation in the city. It had formed in 1941, using the Shirley Street Arena as its home base, and later moved to the Halifax Forum. An October 28, 2004 article from The Chronicle Herald noted the popularity of the club's annual carnivals from the forties through sixties, which were taken on the road and performed at the Greenwood Air Force Base. Violet Snair, a co-founder of the club with her brother-in-law Roy Snair, recalled, "we had as many as twelve dressmakers for the shows. Kathleen O'Toole, who has since passed away, was instrumental in making and designing the many costumes. She was instrumental in the club's operations."

Many of the club's members went on to become coaches, judges and professional skaters with the Ice Capades. Among the club's members was Evelyn McCall, who is of course the mother of the late Olympic Bronze Medallist and eight time Canadian Champion Rob McCall. McCall holds the distinction of being the first and only Nova Scotian skater to win medals at the Canadian Championships the novice (1975), junior (1977) and senior (1978-1988) divisions. He announced his decision to turn professional in the spring of 1988 after winning the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympic Games and World Championships with partner Tracy Wilson. In a April 28, 1988 interview from The Mail-Star, McCall said, "there would have been nothing better than to win a world championship in Halifax. But unfortunately for Tracy and I it would have been a shallow victory because by that time we would have inherited the title and we didn't want it that way... [but] the only thing I really haven't accomplished is to become world champion. That's the one thing I really wanted to do." Tragically, just three years later he passed away from AIDS-related brain cancer.

Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall's ragtime free dance from the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, still every bit as fabulous to watch today as it was back then!

McCall's memory lives on here in this province. For decades, the Skate Dartmouth competition was been the premiere open competition in Atlantic Canada, drawing skaters of all levels from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and even Quebec. Renamed in recent years to the Rob McCall Memorial, this year's competition will be held from February 5 to 7 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex, where all of Canada's best skaters have been practicing away all week in preparation for their turns competing on the ice in front of the always discerning judges. Both Marie Bowness (who won the 1981 Canadian ice dance with McCall in this very rink) and Tracy Wilson will be in the house with week and if the rousing reception to Nova Scotian's lone ice dance entry Gina Cipriano and Brad Keeping-Myra in the junior free dance was any indication, Nova Scotia loves its figure skaters more than ever.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Halifax's Skating History (Part Three, Pond Skating)

Steele's Pond in Point Pleasant Park, back in the day

From Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and Kaetlyn Osmond to the stars of tomorrow, the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships has brought the best skaters in Canada to center stage right here to Halifax, Nova Scotia this week. Today, the four part feature on the host city's rich skating history continues. Whereas the last two blogs looked at the role those of affluence played in popularizing skating in Halifax, today we'll look at the role the 'unwashed masses' - in other words, everyday Haligonians - played in developing local skating history:

POND SKATING

Going back to part one of this blog, we recall that Griffin's Pond (the original home of the Halifax Skating Club) was fed by The Fresh Water Brook, now underground and part of the Halifax Commons. This brook actually fed an incredible number of skating ponds all through Halifax's south end and where the brook didn't provide, the Halifax Fire Department would often flood depressions in the North Commons to make temporary rinks to meet the needs of the throngs of Halifax skaters looking for a place to 'cut a fancy figure' or 'turn a Valse'.

In his January 2 and 9, 1988 "Walking" columns from The Mail-Star, late Halifax historian, lecturer and author Lou Collins noted that The Fresh Water Brook "wended its way southeast by way of Fenwick Street and small valleys and gullies until it reached the east end of Inglis Street and then entered Halifax Harbour not far from the present railway pedestrian tunnel. Ships' crews had for over a century rowed ashore to the mouth of this brook to fill casks with fresh water, hence the name: Fresh Water Brook... In the course of the last two decades of the 19th century the Reverend Robert Murray, Presbyterian scholar, hymnodist, and editor of the Presbyterian Witness, took over Studley on Coburg Road, the estate that once belonged to Sir Alexander Croke, stern Judge of Vice-Admiralty and elevated Anglican. In a hollow fringed by willows, just north of the Murray Homestead, was an attractive small pond, popular in winter with skaters. According to a local report, a group of British Army officers from the garrison chose to skate on Murray's Pond [northeast of the Dalhousie University chemistry building] on a Sunday. While they were told courteously that they might skate on the Pond during week days, they were informed, in high Victorian style, that they were to leave immediately and not repeat their Sunday escapade on Murray's Pond."

More accessible South End ponds were the 'Pogey' or 'Poor House Pond' on South Street, on the future site of the Grace Maternity Hospital. Collins' Pond was located in the depression in Collins' Fields between Inglis and South Streets and is long gone as well. Two ponds existed on the north edge of Point Pleasant Park (according to Hopkins's Atlas Of Halifax Of 1878) but only Quarry Pond remained as of 1988. You don't see people skating there these days either. Collins also recalled that "perhaps the best known of the south-end ponds was [Steele]'s Pond, now covered by the Haltern Containerport and its adjacent parking lot. On this pond Haligonians were to enjoy skating for many years. It is said that the historic Halifax Skating Club grew out of the skating opportunities provided by [Steele]'s Pond." So that gives you another indication as to where the members of the Halifax Skating Club might very well have gone after the Murray's Pond and Exhibition Building rinks ceased to be.

In addition to ponds, skaters even ventured on to marshes. In the January 31, 1963 issue of the Mail-Star, E.G.L. Wetmore recalled, "How many who were Southenders in their youth have happy memories of Ritchie's swamp in Marlboro Woods? Now it's all houses, lawns and wide residential streets... Probably a hot potato never tasted better than one retrieved from glowing embers of a wood fire built in shelter of the big rock which was the time honored place for putting on boots and skates. Some of the spuds would be eaten, and others tucked into the toes of the temporarily abandoned walking boots. For some of the skaters there would not even be in need to exchange footwear, they would just clip on the popular Acme spring skates turned out by Starr in the Dartmouth plant."

In the area west of the Northwest Arm were such popular skating spots as Williams' Lake and The Frog Pond. Collins wrote, "in Edmond's Ground, the Duck Pond near the old barn may have known very young participants... When winters were more severe and there was less pollution in the North West Arm, its surface was frozen often enough to be recorded as a popular destination for skating. While not providing the hard, glass-like surface of fresh-water ice, salt-water ice is firm, less brittle and more flexible, although eroded at the tide mark by the rise and all of the tides." Chocolate Lake (between Herring Cove Road and St. Margaret's Bay Road) was the most popular skating spot on the Isthmus until World War II. Collins recalled, "it had become so popular in the years immediately before the Second World War, that change huts, complete with canteens, had been provided by enterprising residents and others. These, for a small charge, provided warmth, safety for footgear, and reduced the need to hide one's boots under the roots of a tree in the darkness of the western shoreline." Other popular skating destinations were McFatridge's Pond on Robie Street, the playfield south of Gorsebrook School, Deal's Pond (east of Bayers Road) and Devlin's Pond (just north of Dutch Village Road) and Stanford's Pond, a shallow pond full of reeds and grass just below St. John's Anglican Church and cemetery. Although people certainly skated on the latter, it was considered the least attractive option in the area as the ice often wasn't great.

"Hints To Skaters" from The January 25, 1883 edition of "The Irish Canadian"

The cutting of ice blocks for refrigeration became a regular problem faced by Halifax skaters. Not only would men from Farmers cut ice from Deal's Pond for their dairy on Windsor Street, citizens would often take matters into their own hands for food storage. Crystal Martin of the Dartmouth Heritage Museum explained, "a lot of people cleared off lakes to skate or play hockey; then they would go back the next day to find that the ice had been cut."

The Northwest Arm would freeze in parts and daring skaters would often venture as far west as Williams Lake but most skaters had the sense to turn back to warnings of 'warm springs' and thin ice. Legends even persist of skaters crossing sections of the Halifax Harbour. Late historian George Mullane wrote that in 1821 "when the harbour was frozen over, but the ice by no means thick enough to be considered safe, many broke through, although many tried to use the ice surface to travel between Halifax and Dartmouth in that January... Drownings were recorded... A son of John Gibbs, messenger to the House Of Assembly who was immersed, was so exhausted that he died in a few hours. Today an ice coated harbour is only a memory."

Speaking of memories, stay tuned to the blog! Tomorrow we'll have the final part of this series and on Thursday, a recap of how the best skaters in Canada are MAKING history in 2016 in the novice and junior events leading up to the marquee events at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships later this week. You do not want to miss it!

Halifax's Skating History (Part Two, The Exhibition Building Rink)

Etching of a Skating Carnival at The Exhibition Building Rink from the April 10, 1880 issue of The British newspaper The Graphic. I've got the original in my private collection - how 'bout that?

This covered rink, like the one in the Gardens, was built by The Halifax Skating Rink Company. Interestingly, the company's secretary-treasurer was a direct descendant of Richard John Uniacke, the abolitionist and former Attorney-General of Nova Scotia who played an extremely prominent role in Nova Scotian history. He would have been in attendance at these lavish skating carnivals that rivalled the Montreal Masquerades. Entrance tickets were sold almost like a movie ticket by session for 'gentlemen', 'ladies' and 'families' as opposed to a yearly membership.

Like in the Gardens rink, Valsing (waltzing on ice) was extremely popular with an emphasis placed on the pleasures of skating. Although The Dominion of Canada was part of The Commonwealth, 'fancy skating' in Halifax was the polar opposite of the rigid English Style practiced overseas. School figures would have been of little interest to these skaters; it was all about the ice dancing and carnivals.

An article from the February 7, 1899 issue of The Halifax Daily Echo described one such carnival at the Exhibition Rink: "The Royal Canadian regiment and St. Patrick's bands rendered a splendid programme, including many waltzes, which the skaters and spectators enjoyed. The ice was never in better condition, and one well known skater said he had never seen a better sheet in his life. There was nothing very strikingly new in the costumes, though nearly all were very neat and some very pretty. There was only one group noticeable – the Geisha girls (Frank Stephen, D'Arcy Weatherbee and C. Grant) who were made up to represent three very presentable maidens. A lampshade costume, worn by Mrs. Green, was of crimpled paper arranged with pretty effect. Among the ladies who wore particularly nice costumes were Misses Burns and Seeton, as Black and White supplement; Miss Cameron, Yuletide; Miss Dimock, as Phyllis; Miss Darville, as an olden time lady, and Miss Farrell as Folly. Another costume that attracted notice was that of the Daisy, worn by a lady whose name was not among those registered. On a dark green dress were worked daisies, and she wore a little cape with a yellow centre near the neck and the petals falling over the shoulders. On her head was a hat which was a perfect representation of a large daisy, with a yellow centre and the rim of white petals. Among the gentleman's costumes was the Pink Un', by Mr. Jones, R[oyal] A[rtillery]. It consisted of white satin knickerbockers, with pink satin cutaway coat and vest. A tall pink silk hat, with a miniature horse race on the crown, completed the costume, over which were scattered cards and sporting papers, the whole representing a well known English sporting paper. During the evening a couple of sets of lancers were danced, and these, with the waltzing, would give visitors an idea of how well Halifax people skate."

When the Halifax Skating Club lost its home in 1889, it's entirely likely that its members would have come crawling to the competition, but at any rate, it would have all been short-lived. MacDonald explained that "an act was passed in 1896 to enable the city council to sell the Exhibition Building and grounds. New exhibition buildings, later destroyed by the Halifax Explosion, were erected on the corner of Robie and Windsor Streets at the end of the century. In 1906, six of the grounds' lots were sold to St. Luke's congregation (later amalgamated with All Saints) for $3,000 dollars each. The sod-turning ceremony took place on September 25, 1907. In the same year, the towers of the old Exhibition Building were destroyed and the building moved to South Street. It continued to operate as a rink for a few more years."

We've heard about where it all started and now, about the role that the Halifax Explosion played in Halifax's skating history, but there's so much more to the story! As the novice and junior events at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships get underway over the next few days, we'll continue exploring the city's unique skating tradition.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Halifax's Skating History (Part One, The Halifax Skating Rink)

From Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and Kaetlyn Osmond to the stars of tomorrow, the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will bring the best skaters in Canada front and center right here in Halifax, Nova Scotia starting tomorrow. Due largely to geography - the East Coast always seems to get the short end of the stick - the city's rich skating tradition is often overlooked. Although we've explored Halifax skating history before on the blog, it's high time that we took a more in depth look:

THE HALIFAX SKATING RINK

Visiting Griffin's Pond in October 2015

Griffin's Pond, which we today know as the beloved duck pond in the Halifax Public Gardens, played a tremendously important role in Canadian skating history. A brook (now underground) in the Halifax Commons actually fed Griffin's Pond and a host of other skating ponds in Halifax in the nineteenth century.

In his "Walking" columns from the January 2 and 8, 1988 editions of the Mail-Star, late Halifax historian, lecturer and author Lou Collins explained, "Beginning at the height of land near the intersection of Cunard and Windsor streets, the Fresh Water Brook ran through a swampy area south of the intersection of Cunard and Robie streets. It provided water for the Egg Pond in the Central Common, a pond now, unfortunately, left dry. It then found its way to Griffin's Pond in a rough area of the Common was to be transformed into the north section of the Halifax Public Gardens." In those days, the Public Gardens were owned by the Halifax Horticultural Society and ice skating became tremendously popular among its members in the winter.

In 1861, a barn was constructed on the east side of the Gardens near the original entrance on South Park Street and a short distance from Griffin's Pond with the intention of being used as a 'skating house' but it was too late in the season and the ice was too thin for the facility to be made use of that year. The following year, the Halifax Skating Club was formed by 'fancy skating' enthusiasts. The November 1, 1862 issue of "The Acadian Recorder" explained that "prisoners at Rockhead cleared snow from Griffin's Pond and made good skating." Although skating was first enjoyed on the pond itself, it was (perhaps for safety reasons) the area next to it where history would be made.

Skating Rink in the Public Gardens in Halifax - 1851 map from The Halifax Horticultural Society, reproduced from the Along The Garden's Path blog, shows the area where the covered skating rink was later constructed in the lower right corner, framed by trees

This 1851 map from The Halifax Horticultural Society, reproduced from the Along The Garden's Path blog, shows the area where the covered skating rink was later constructed in the lower right corner, framed by trees.

By 1863, a covered skating barn was constructed in the area adjacent to the pond (one of the first covered rinks in Canada) and the members of the Halifax Skating Club had a home... The Halifax Skating Rink. I want to offer my thanks to Phillip at the Nova Scotia Archives for helping me track down this wonderful primary source on microfiche describing the official opening of the rink on January 3, 1863. Reproduced in its entirety with permission, here's the article "The Skating Rink" from the Monday, January 12, 1863 issue of "The Nova Scotian":

"This 'institution' is located on the Horticultural Society's grounds on Spring Garden road. The building enclosing the Rink is 60 feet wide and 180 feet in length, and this area of ice constitutes the extent of the skating facilities. The structure is permanent in its character and is tastefully fitted up, and gas is introduced so that the Rink can be lighted at night. At the entrance end of the building, and joining upon it is a commodious room separated from the Rink, furnished with a stove, which is a desirable arrangement in connection with the enterprise. The building is constructed in such a manner as to give an apparent lightness of effect combined with strength. In the centre of the far end is a recess with an elevated dais for the Band. By day the Rink is lighted by a row of large windows on the two sides, and by night by four pendants each containing several burners. On Saturday, 3d inst., the Rink was formally opened by the Lieutenant Governor. A large number of the elite of the city congregated to witness the ceremony. The Band of the 17th took their station upon the dais and played some lively tunes in that style for which they are so justly celebrated in this city. At the appointed hour His Excellency arrived, and after making a few well chosen and appropriate remarks, declared the Rink open. He remarked that the exercise of skating would prove condusive to the health of those engaged in it, besides affording very agreeable amusement and pastime. He expressed his extreme satisfaction with the arrangements that had been made, and complimented the [promoters] of the enterprise upon the success that had crowned their efforts. So soon as the Rink was declared open, some fifty or sixty ladies and gentlemen, being provided with skates, glided out upon the ice and enjoyed the pleasure of the 'giddy whirl' to their hearts content. The weather being extremely mild, the ice was rather too soft for the sport, but nevertheless all seemed delighted with its condition. Owing to the situation of the Rink and its exclusion from the sun's rays, the ice was in much better condition that might have been expected. Judging from observation no expense seems to have been spared in rendering the rink and its associations in every way comfortable for ladies and gentlemen, at a very moderate subscription price. We wish those interested in the enterprise that success which their efforts so well merit."

As David Irish's CBC article from earlier this month noted, membership at the Halifax Skating Club in its early days was much like skating clubs everywhere in those times - a trifle choosy. Membership wasn't open to the general public. You pretty much had to be a member of the Horticultural Society, have money, know someone or all of the above. In fact, "such was the popularity of the sport at this time that within three weeks the directors were forced to close the membership," explained Shirley Ellis on October 4, 1964 in the "Mail-Star".

The skating season, owing to the use of natural ice, was generally from January to March with the pond opening early in years where the winter kicked in early. The late George Mullane, in his "Mail-Star" column "Many Old Ponds No Longer Remain" noted that one autumn "the frost must have come early because scores of ladies and gentlemen [skated], the ice being in capital condition, and the scene presented was a gay one." Who doesn't love a good gay scene? That's what I want to know!

Skaters were also often treated to tea and light refreshments ("The Acadian Recorder" noted ice cream and strawberries were served) and live music from the Union Harmonic Orchestra. In the summers, the rink was floored and used for roller skating. We won't judge them for that. Okay, we will a little, but that's okay.

In her delightful 1992 book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves notes that "the first authentic waltz on ice is believed to have originated... in Halifax, Nova Scotia, developed by a British officer stationed there who had experimented with the waltz at Davos or St. Moritz. Somehow he discovered the figure three with a stretched free leg before turning the three as the key to waltzing on ice. Replacement of this once-back style of valsing with the Valse using three turns took time and spread gradually from country to country, from continent to continent." This unnamed British officer's introduction of valsing to Haligonians was an important milestone in terms of turning the upper crust on to the joys of ice dancing.

The fate of the 'Griffin's Pond rink' remains somewhat shrouded in mystery but it's possible we can put two and two together. "The Acadian Recorder "tells us that the rink was illuminated with coal gas and near the main entrance, a reception room was equipped with a coal stove. A December 28, 1976 article from The "Mail-Star" notes that (lord Jesus!) there was a fire in that covered rink, perhaps as a result of someone going out to get a cold pop? As a result of that (and perhaps a little competition, which we'll get into in the next blog) the rink was eventually demolished in 1889, although skating on the pond was revived briefly when the city opened the rink during a particularly frosty winter in the seventies "much to the surprise of resident ducks and visiting seagulls", according to Collins.

Stay tuned daily throughout the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships for more fabulous skating history on Skate Guard!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Penman's Dam Brawl

I wouldn't know a thing about overindulging in alcohol whatsoever. Alright, I'll be honest with you. I couldn't even keep a straight face when I typed that. Yes, I'll admit it. I do from time to time indulge in a glass or three of Pinot Grigio too many but I can say with absolute certainty that I have never gone skating after one drink too many. The same can't be said for the figure skaters of Paris, Ontario in 1883.

For those of you who have no clue where Canada's Paris is, it's a small town on the Grand River in Brant County. Today its population is a mere eleven thousand but back in 1883 the town's population was just over three thousand and was mainly comprised of gypsum miners and their families. Like proper nineteenth century Canadian settlers, they loved their skating and it was an immensely popular pastime during the long winters.

The February 1, 1885 edition wrote of a special performance by Professor Heine who "was the champion of Michigan, and gave a very pretty entertainment in the Paris Skating and Curling Rink on Friday last. He gave universal satisfaction to those present, when he amazingly skated on stilts, eighteen inches high, on the bottom of each of which was a coloured light. He also jumped over barrels and other obstacles." Every bit as popular as skating was a little nip now and then... and you can't really blame the residents of Paris because - let's be real here for a minute - Ontario winters can be brutally cold. You have to keep warm somehow, don't you?

But here's the thing... Not everyone in Paris, Ontario was a fan of drinking. In The Brant Review two years before Professor Heine's visit, Reverend H. Hughes of the Congregational Church spoke "pretty strongly about the depraved youth of Paris. He was struck with the prevalence of drunkenness among the young men. He had recently witnessed, on Saturday night, between thirty and forty men coming out of a certain hotel, which he named; the oldest not more than thirty, and the majority between sixteen and twenty. He further stated that a livery-stable owner said, 'The young men love darkness better than light because their deeds are evil.'"

It turns out that these hotel drinkers after party of choice was the frozen Penman's Dam, site of the Paris Skating and Curling Rink. The Brant Review wrote that these 'depraved youth' in question (labelled largely as American workers who had come to Paris to work in the town's button-making shop) went to go "fancy figure-skating" in 1883 and "had become deliberately intoxicated when they should have been home in their beds and had several bottles of whiskey and other liquors, and later could hardly make their way home." It all came to a head, according to Donald A. Smith's book "At the Forks of the Grand, Volume I: 20 Historical Essays on Paris, Ontario" when that same year, one button-maker who worked at the shop that was behind what is now the town's post office "became so drunk at the rink, that, as he wobbled around, he continually bowled over other skaters. Finally, the caretaker, Mr. Luxford, ordered him off. The drunk replied by throwing Luxford to the ice. Then Luxford's son rushed to the defence, and after a fierce struggle subdued the assailant - and the cost of a bitten cheek and a chewed thumb."

Biting? Really? You'd think that was where it all ended but sadly, no. The drunken button-making skaters returned as an angry mob a month later to settle their score with the rink's caretaker Luxford but were again tossed out on their asses after more yet more fisticuffs. The grand finale to the story of this drunken skater's brawl? After they got kicked out of the rink, the button-makers made their way to the Windsor Hotel on Grand River Street where according to The Brant Review "they insulted and attacked Mr. F.O. Allworth and lady friend. One struck him from behind and another jumped on his back." In irony, the drunken skater was fended off when "Allworth cut one's hand with his skates before freeing himself." Are you kidding me?! I never would have thought of Paris button-makers being so in-Seine, but hey, now we all know so we can be on the lookout!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

La Fée Carabosse: The Shaun McGill Story

Photo courtesy Kathleen McGill

"To me, Shaun's great beauty came from inside. He was everything a parent could want and hope for. He showed a tremendous strength, helped me see other ways of life and not to be judgemental and showed us all what true love was. Not once did I ever hear him complain and all he asked for was laughter and smiles, not sad faces. I know I'm stronger because of him and I try to be a better person because of him. I always enjoyed watching him skate." - Kathleen McGill

The son of Joseph and Kathleen McGill, Shaun McGill grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and started skating at the age of eight. He soon began train at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. An artist among athletes, he made his first big splash at the national level as a skater when he finished second in the novice men's event at the 1978 Canadian Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, beating a young Paul Martini. That autumn, he moved up to the junior ranks, finishing second at the Central Ontario Sectionals behind Brian Orser on his way to a third place finish in the junior men's event at the 1979 Canadian Championships behind Orser and Kevin Parker. He remained in the junior ranks until 1981, when at the age of nineteen he finished second behind Neil Paterson at the Canadian Championships despite competing with bone splints on both legs, which were taped for his free skating performances.

In 1982, Shaun moved up to the senior ranks, placing third at the Eastern Divisionals in Montreal that year behind Brian Orser and Gary Beacom and winning the Central Ontario Sectionals in 1983. However, in an age of Canadian men's skating when difficult triple jumps were becoming increasingly more valued than musical sensibility, he made the decision to join the professional ranks and tour with John Curry's company. Although his amateur competitive record might not have been as impressive as some of his peers, he gained respect from critics for his artistry. However, his turbulent off ice relationship with Curry spilled out on the ice. In his book "Alone: The Triumph And Tragedy Of John Curry", Bill Jones noted that "private off-ice turbulence frequently spilled out frequently into rehearsals."Shaun left the company and in 1985 joined fellow Canadians Gary Beacom, Gia Guddat and Kelly Johnston and John Thomas, touring Austria, England and Canada with legendary ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. He was rewarded with a bluesy solo act in the 1986 Canadian tour.

Video courtesy Scott Werry

Perhaps Shaun's most famous role as a skater was in the 1987 made for television production "Sleeping Beauty On Ice", choreographed by Lar Lubovitch. Appearing alongside Robin Cousins, Rosalynn Sumners, Lea-Ann Miller and Bill Fauver, Nathan Birch, Patricia Dodd, Catherine Foulkes in a thirty member cast, Shaun portrayed the wicked Fée Carabosse and owned the role to the extreme. Dance critic George Jackson lauded him for "intricate footwork, fleetness, and his streamlined silhouette," also noting that "McGill suffused his technique with a demonic intensity that made him right for the role of Carabosse in the televised ice version of 'Sleeping Beauty', Drosselmeyer in the Chicago ice spectacular of 'The Nutcracker', and for the personifications of character or mood in the solos he set for himself." In both December 1987 and 1988, he finished second at the World Professional Figure Skating Championships in Jaca, Spain. He unfortunately lost the 1987 title to fellow Canadian Daniel Beland by less than a point.

Shaun appearing as Carabosse in "Sleeping Beauty On Ice"

Just as Shaun's professional career was starting to really take off, in 1989 at the age of twenty seven he was told that he was HIV positive. A January 25, 1993 article in "People" magazine, quoting his surviving long term partner Regis Gagnon shares the story of his diagnosis and final years: "'He was very calm,' recalls Regis Gagnon of skater Shaun McGill in 1989 after McGill was told he had AIDS. Gagnon, 32, a program adviser at the Ontario Ministry of Health, lived with McGill in Toronto for four years prior to McGill's death. 'I kept informed about the latest AIDS treatments. Shaun said to me, 'Just tell me what I need to know. I'll take the pills I'm supposed to take. But don't bother me. I've got work to do.' Gagnon claims McGill did some of his finest choreography and skating after his condition was diagnosed. 'There was an intensity, a real need to produce,' says Gagnon of his friend, who never won an Olympic medal but was regarded by his peers as one of the most creative skaters of his generation. 'He wanted to get his work out because he knew his time was finite.' McGill, who spent a lot of time traveling, was one who kept his condition secret for fear that he would not be allowed to enter the U.S., where most professional skaters find work with various ice shows. One spring day in 1991 his secret was nearly revealed. On his way to Baltimore, home base of The Next Ice Age, a professional troupe he was working with, he was stopped by U.S. immigration officials in Toronto. 'He didn't look totally well, so they look him into a room and interrogated him [about whether he had AIDS],' says Gagnon. 'He had to tell them something so he'd be allowed to cross the border. So he told them he had cancer.' The officials told McGill that they would have to confirm his statement and asked for the name of somebody they could call. He gave them Gagnon's. Then, while the officials left him momentarily unattended, 'Shaun sneaked out of the customs office, found a phone and called to tell me what kind of cancer he'd told them he had,' says Gagnon. 'It was pretty traumatic.' Only when McGill grew too weak to skate, shortly after that incident, did he stop performing. McGill's friend Tim Murphy, a co-founder of the Next Ice Age, remembers McGill's final performance with the company. 'He said, 'I think this is the last time I'll do this,' Murphy recalls. 'We had a little cry and a hug. It was the only thing I ever heard him say about how he was affected by AIDS.'"

Video courtesy Scott Werry

Shaun passed away on March 23, 1992 at the age of thirty, leaving behind his parents, partner, two brothers and coaches Jack Raffleur, Louis Stong, Bruce Lennie and Mrs. Ellen Burka. An ailing John Curry wrote, "Hard to believe that one so full of energy and spark should be dead". Nathan Birch recalled him as "one of the most inventive, artistic skaters of all time, and he really inspired younger skaters to push the envelope a bit and be more experimental." His former competitor Gordon Forbes recalled him as "a wild man; sad but funny, and incredibly talented." In a December 13, 1992 interview with the Calgary Herald, his mother Kathleen said that she hoped his legacy would live on and that "when people think of Shaun and Brian [Pockar] and Rob [McCall] and Dennis [Coi], I hope they forget AIDS and remember them for what they did for skating and for other people. They never did anything to make us ashamed. We're very proud of them."

Video courtesy Scott Werry

I never met Shaun McGill. I was eight years old when he passed away. However, as a young gay man who grew up skating in Canada in the era of Elvis Stojko pumping out quads yet looking to the Toller Cranston's of skating - the artists - as who I wanted to emulate, I can't help but personally feel some connection to Shaun McGill's story. I would have loved to have met him!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Names, Names, Names!: The Skate Guard 2016 Canadian Championships Preview

With the start of the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships less than a week away here in Halifax, it was Skate Guards off and game faces on as several of Canada's top skaters took turns dishing the deets of their preparations for the competition and reflections on their seasons thus far in a series of Skate Canada teleconferences this week. Why not break out the bubbly a little early and pour yourself a glass to go along with this finely curated collection of questions, answers and quotes from the country's biggest stars? To borrow from the words of Edina Monsoon herself, it's "names, names, names" sweetie!

KAETLYN OSMOND

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(on coming back and being injury free): "So far this year, it's been definitely a roller coaster. It's half what I was expecting coming back: not knowing exactly what to expect coming back in competitions... [From Nebelhorn to Skate Canada] I think I've gone to both extremes this year. I'm really excited leading up to Nationals. My practices have been going really well. If I had any little injuries through the beginning of my season, they are completely healed now and I'm feeling better than ever. I haven't been practicing better in my life... Nationals is always my favourite competition of the year so I'm really happy to be back."

Read Kaetlyn's July 2014 Skate Guard interview.

GABBY DALEMAN

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(on her season so far and goals in Halifax) "My season has been going pretty good so far. I'm happy with what me and my team have done. We've focused a lot on the second mark and skating the jumps proper with the music... I'm really happy with how I'm feeling going into Canadians. My goal is to hold my title and to try to beat the Canadian record."

(on competing at Trophée Éric Bompard during the Paris attacks): "It was a pretty scary experience because we didn't know what happened until the next morning and I didn't know what happened until after my practice. My practice was around 7:30-8 AM so I never grabbed breakfast, never turned my TV on... so I just went to practice, came back, had breakfast and Patrick Chan's coach was like 'did you hear what happened? Like, do you know if they're going to cancel the competition?' and I had no idea! As far as I knew, the competition was still back on and the ladies were in two hours, so I went back to my hotel room, took my hour and a half nap, was starting to get ready and my coach Lee Barkell phoned me and said, 'Gab, I'm sorry to say this, but the competition is cancelled.' My heart and soul was with France and I was terrified. I didn't know what to feel. I was disappointed I didn't get to finish the competition, but they said it was for our safety and that they had all athlete's best interests so I was just thankful that they were able to get everyone out safe and sound and everything."

(on rebounding to finish third in the free skate ahead of World Silver Medallist Alena Leonova and Four Continents Champion Kanako Murakami in the free skate at Skate Canada in Lethbridge): "I learned that I CAN do it and that I trust my training. I knew what I needed to do. I stayed calm. I didn't panic, I wasn't like 'Oh my God, If I don't do this, I'm going to be in this place.' I wasn't overthinking it. I was just trying to stay calm, stay in my bubble with me and my coaches, just focusing on me and what I can control and just having fun and enjoying the moment."

Read Gabby's July 2014 Skate Guard interview.

MEAGAN DUHAMEL AND ERIC RADFORD

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(Meagan on confidence, changes and goals going into the competition): "I think we feel pretty good going into Canadians - a lot more settled and confident than we felt in the Grand Prix circuit. We've made some changes - a lot of changes - to our short program and we feel like the program as a whole is breathing and flowing a lot better which in turn helps us train it more consistently and improves our confidence. We had a great start to our season results wise but we weren't skating our very best so we're really hoping to come out and start this second half our season in Halifax with a bang with two personal best performances that will hopefully take us to our fifth national title."

(Eric on changing the short program and injuring his finger): "As Meagan said, we've restructured and that's led to everything being a lot more comfortable and I think it makes skating a clean program more achievable and a little easier. Basically, everything is right where we want it to be except that I sprained my finger yesterday at the gym and it's really annoying."

Read Meagan's July 2013 Skate Guard interview.

PATRICK CHAN

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(on going into Nationals and adding changing his free skate to add a second triple axel): "[I'm] excited. I finally feel for the first time this season that I'm calm, not feeling like I'm trying to catch up, not rested. I had a great break during the new year and was able to recuperate after [the Grand Prix] Final and reassess some little things that we needed to change in the program - more technically than artistically - for Nationals and moving towards the World Championships. So, it's good! Nationals is always a blast and sure, I'm going for my eighth title but I think there's a lot more at hand that I'm trying to achieve at Nationals in terms of adding technical elements and trying it for the first time and seeing how it works... and also, like I said at the beginning of the season just getting my legs under me this year and get myself ready for the next two years to make them a lot smoother than this year."

(on finishing fifth in only his second time competing at the senior level at the 2007 Canadian Championships in Halifax and coming full circle almost ten years later): "Looking back at it now, it's really funny how serious it is and how important it is to skate at the National Championships and so on. You make it bigger than it is. Now, looking back and going into Halifax again nearing the end of my career, it's really exciting! It's a breath of fresh air to come in with the skills that I have and seeing how different of a skater I am now than I was then - I was just a young pup back then - and now I've developed into a really great athlete and I think a really great figure skater and well-rounded... which is really a bit of a full circle, starting there at only my second National Championships and now going for my eighth title, it's come a long way. It's a bit of a flashback and it's really actually interesting and fun."

NAM NGUYEN

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(on feeling ready to compete in Halifax) "I'm feeling ready for Nationals next week. Training has been going fairly well. Some days are a little bit harder than the others, but I've been pushing through and I feel ready for next week."

(on training in the last two weeks at the Cricket Club and going back to his "Sinnerman" short program): "Training the few weeks leading up to Nationals has been very intensive. The main focus for us is the skating in the program and the choreography. We want to make everything very, very big and very mature and we've also worked on my old short program because I went back to my short program from last year, 'Sinnerman'. We needed to brush up that program, make it look nice and also working on the consistency of my elements. So yeah... the last two weeks have been intensive just making sure I'm ready for next week."

(on training focuses this season): "Well, first the main focus of this season was to improve on the skating skills and the overall skating, but to be honest with you I don't think it improved - like, maybe it did a little bit - but not as much as I'd like it to be but these past few weeks, I've been training very, very hard and making sure that I pay attention to the little details in my program and also at the same time, I can't completely give up my jumps. My main focus is on the skating skills but also on the jumps too just to make sure that when I completely focus on one thing, the other thing doesn't go away."

KAITLYN WEAVER AND ANDREW POJE

Photo courtesy Danielle Earl

(Kaitlyn on their philosophy and skating in her tenth Canadian Championships with Andrew): "Andrew and I feel really good right now. Obviously, it's been a great season so far. Not only have the results been very positive but I feel like we're really enjoying ourselves this year and we're growing with each competition and enjoying the day to day and I think that's really important with overall well-being. We're not spring chickens anymore and I think that happiness is an advantage and it helps us to perform better and better. We've of course been pushing ourselves to make little changes and work on details heading into Halifax. It's pretty exciting. It will be our tenth year together and Halifax is where it began in 2007, so it's nice to be coming full circle... We're feeling great and fit and really excited to be going to Canadians this year."

(Andrew on the decision to send The King packing and develop a new short dance after the Finlandia Trophy): "We definitely took all the feedback from the audience and the judges that we had at our first competition in Finland. We wanted to treat that sort of as the test run and see what the feedback was and see where that program could take us. After talking to everyone, we felt like we enjoyed the program but we felt in order to succeed this year, we could do a different [program] that would be better suited for this season. We wanted to make the change right away to ensure we had the longevity behind the program so that when it came to the championships we were prepared and ready. We feel like we've done a good job at adapting quickly to the new program but every day it grows more and more with us and we try to push ourselves to make sure we portray that Waltz feeling throughout the program."

(Kaitlyn on choosing "The Blue Danube" for their new short dance): "It was a pretty split second decision though. We came back from Finland and the day we came back we had our debrief meeting and I said 'OK, something needs to change'. Our minds went to starting something new and 'Blue Danube' might have been the first song we listened to and we were like 'OK, this is it, this is going to be the right thing' and we were on the ice that night re-choreographing. Sometimes I think when you're in a very dire situation you make those split second decisions that end up being the better ones in the end and so I'm happy that we made that decision. We miss Elvis of course but I think we ended up with the right program in the end."

(Andrew on winning the bronze medal with Kaitlyn at the 2007 Canadian Championships in Halifax): "There was so much emotion in that whole Nationals experience. That was our first senior competition together as a team. We went out there and we didn't know what to expect. I mean, I had been to Nationals with different partners but being there with Kaitlyn was a very different experience and a memorable one because that special journey that we had that season was a whirlwind of emotions. {We were] going through the free dance and finishing the free dance... and then as people were skating, knowing that we were going to finish on the podium was just so amazing. It seemed like all that hard work that season had really paid off and it ingrained a strong memory in us."

(Kaitlyn on being starstruck on the podium in Halifax in 2007): "As Andrew said, so much happened that year but Halifax holds a very special place in my heart. It was my first Canadian Nationals, first competition with Andrew, first competition IN Canada, first senior... there were so many firsts. We just had fun. We were kids! We were doing that Canadians more for fun than for anything else because our goal (or so we thought) was just Junior Worlds. We were competing to MAYBE make National Team so when we ended up on that podium with Marie-France and Patrice and Tessa and Scott... I get chills just thinking about it. We were just starstruck and so excited! I don't think anybody really understood just how really surprised we were. We kind of got thrust into the spotlight and then we're here now, ten years later. It's an incredible feeling now under such different circumstances but nonetheless, we're still the two kids that are having fun and it's been a great, great journey."

Enjoy these interviews, sweetie darling? Keep yourself glued to the blog over the next two weeks as I chat with more of figure skating's names, names, names. You also are NOT going to want to miss some of the most fascinating stories from Canadian skating history you can shake a Skate Guard at!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Immigrants And Illusion Spins: Bringing Skating History To Life At Pier 21

You really want to see someone geek out? Pump me full of the dark roast from Norbert's Good Food in the Halifax Seaport Market and let me fawn over figure skating memorabilia. Today, the delightful folks at the Canadian Museum Of Immigration at Pier 21 let me do just that.

PERFECT LANDINGS, IMMIGRATION AND FIGURE SKATING IN CANADA

I appreciate so much the staff at Pier 21 graciously taking the time out of their busy schedules to offer me a behind the scenes glimpse of the exhibit "Perfect Landings, Immigration and Figure Skating in Canada" which opens this Saturday in partnership with Skate Canada and runs through March 20.

(L) Plaque presented to 1941 Canadian Waltz Champion F.K.J. Geiser by the St. Hyacinthe Figure Skating Club. Geiser was a German immigrant who served on the CFSA Board Of Directors for twenty years and made massive contributions as a Builder in Canadian figure skating, particularly in Quebec. (R) Skates made by Hungarian (Roumanian) cobbler turned skate maker John Knebli. Knebli and his beloved wife Elizabeth's business John Knebli, Ltd. made custom skates for a who's who of skating... Toller Cranston, Peggy Fleming, Liz Manley, Elvis Stojko and Brian Orser included. Barbara Ann Scott won her 1948 Olympic title in St. Moritz wearing skates made by Knebli. Photos used with permission of the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21.

I don't feel I am overstating my enthusiasm one iota when I say that this exhibit is an absolute must see for skating history buffs. "Perfect Landings" focuses on the impact of immigrants on Canada's figure skating history. From lushly illustrated panels featuring skaters like Louis Rubenstein, Otto and Maria Jelinek, Hellmut May, Carole Jane Pachl and Ellen Burka to walkable floor patterns of school figures, the exhibit is curated in such a way that both those who know plenty about the sport's history and those who know little but are inspired to learn will be engaged equally. The memorabilia that will be on display is just stunning. There's a pair of skates that are over a century old that were designed right here in Nova Scotia by the Starr Manufacturing Company and another made by the late, famed skate maker John Knebli, whose first steps on Canadian soil were at Pier 21, the very site of the exhibit! It was incredibly cool to check out Petra Burka's 1964 Olympic gold medal and her sash from the 1965 World Championships. As I put on a pair of gloves and had a chance to hold Petra's medal from the 1964 Innsbruck Games, I joked to historian Erica Gagnon that this was the closest I'll ever be getting to an Olympic medal! We also had a chuckle over the iconic costume German born Victor Kraatz wore to skate his "Riverdance" with Shae-Lynn Bourne at the 1998 Nagano Olympics will be displayed as well. Deciding on how to much booty to stuff into the posterior of Victor's pants proved a major debate for the staff. In the end, they elected for a modest rump instead of the "sexy Flanders" look.

L-R: Petra Burka's bronze medal from the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck and her sash from the 1965 World Figure Skating Championships at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Photos used with permission of the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21.

"Reel Around The Sun", anyone? We were all in agreement that the mere sight of the costume Victor Kraatz wore to skate his "Riverdance" is bound to stir up more than one 'discussion' about the judging at that competition. Yes, we're looking at you, Yuri Balkov. Photos used with permission of the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21.

Historian Steven Schwinghamer and I chatted about why "Perfect Landings" is such a must see exhibit for those travelling to Halifax for the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships: "Halifax, I think, is a great location for the event. We've had the privilege of hosting a few major skating championships over the last couple of decades. Wish we could have more, but there is a track record - for example, the '90 Worlds - but there were also some other national competitions that were held here. But the history in this city goes deeper. You can go back to 1885, in the Public Gardens - in the Commons now we have the Oval - but there was ice waltzing, these big public events and people were crazy about it! This event helps people anchor the history not only of skating but of manufacturing with Starr Skates but it connects it with the larger tapestry. Not only with skating as a discipline in Canada [but with] the techniques, the training, even the tools of figure skating all being profoundly influenced by the contributions of immigrants. For me (principally I'm an immigration historian) this exhibit, through the lens of figure skating, brings us to some of the major issues of immigration in Canada. Whether it's questions of admission, people coming as refugees, but also integration and impact. Of course, through figure skating we see the impact of so many influential athletes and builders. If people are looking to understand the context of the event both locally and in a bigger, national picture, hopefully this exhibit will do that for them."

Skates made by John Forbes' Starr Manufacturing Company. Photos used with permission of the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21.

This Saturday from 1-3 PM, Haligonians will have a chance to learn more about the exhibit and meet Pier 21's big bear Fenton at the Emera Oval and win prizes including tickets to the competitions at the Scotiabank Centre. But what about those of you who already have your tickets? Just bring your stubs on down to Pier 21 to receive fifteen percent off your museum admission.

SKATE TO SURVIVE

"There was a young skater named Toller,
Who made people laugh, scream and holler.
He'd do a mazurka,
For a lady named Burka -
Providing she paid him a dollar."

- "Toller", Elva Oglanby, 1975

The Canadian Museum Of Immigration at Pier 21 will also be hosting a free screening of the 2007 documentary "Skate To Survive", written by Michael Kainer and directed by Astra Burka. The forty-eight minute piece was featured at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and the Jewish Eye World Jewish Film Festival in Ashkelon, Israel in 2008 and intimately tells the story of Ellen Burka, a Holocaust survivor and the iconic coach of such Canadian skating greats as her daughter Petra, two time Canadian Champion Jay Humphry and of course, the legendary Olympic and World Medallist and six time Canadian Champion Toller Cranston. If you're not familiar with Mrs. Burka's story, I am going to absolutely insist that you make the time to listen to Paul Dore's two part interview with her on Open Kwong Dore podcast. I promise you, after you do, you'll be fighting me for front row seats honey... and you will lose! The documentary is at 7 PM on Thursday, January 21 and if you come an hour early, the Museum's staff will be offering visitors a special introduction to the "Perfect Landings" exhibit. I'll also be kicking around and would love to chat with any of you that will be in attendance!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.