Serving as one of the club’s main fundraisers, the annual carnival features the outstanding talents of some of the best known names in figure skating in Boston and from around the world, as well the efforts of the club’s promising skaters and begin- ners. It’s a high energy event that promotes show- manship and originality. Each year, the carnival boasts a new theme.
In 1934, the club’s show “Te Cruise of the S.S. Arena,” became a major production, starring Sonja Henie and Karl Schafer, the reigning World and Olympic champions. Te next few years saw more carnival spectaculars on the same grand scale. Rid- ing the momentum of those shows, carnivals at the end of the 1930s played before capacity houses at the venerable Boston Garden. It was largely through the profits raised from the annual carnival that Te Skating Club of Bos- ton was able to purchase land and build its own facility in 1938. Ice Follies and Ice Capades were largely mod- eled upon the ideas developed by the Boston, New York and Toronto club carnivals. Tose two profes- sional touring shows took some of the steam from the Boston carnival around the time of World War II, but the 1947 show was a memorable one, with Dick Button, then the World silver medalist, and the brother act of Gil and Tuffy McKellen, in star- ring roles.
Te carnival in recent decades has been held
at the Walter Brown Arena at Boston Univer- sity, Matthews Arena at Northeastern University (which is the former New Boston Arena, the home of the club between 1920 and 1938) and Harvard University’s Bright Arena. Skating greats such as Dick Button, Barbara
Ann Scott, Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Hayes and David Jenkins, Brian Boitano, Scott Ham- ilton, Kurt Browning, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, Zue Shen and Hongbo Zhao and Meryl Davis and Charlie White have all performed in this venerable skating institution. What the future holds Since 1939, Te Skating Club of Boston’s facility on 1240 Soldiers Field Road in Brighton, Mass., has served its constituency well. However, in the mid-1990s, the club deter- mined that the current rink was getting “old and tired” and that the time had come to look at op- tions for the long term, including the construction of an additional rink to meet growing demands. “I have to give Ted Clarke (club president,
1994-1997) credit for creating the first document that said this is what we need to do long term,” said President Joe Blount, who is a retired archi- tect. “We developed that document, which rec- ommended that we needed two rinks. It went on to the next president and then to myself. A lot of credit goes to all the members who have been on and off the board for the last 20 years, who felt the legacy of the club needed to be carried on.” In recent years, Te Skating Club of Boston has looked at more than 30 sites for potential ex- pansion. Late last year, it entered into an agree- ment with Harvard University in which it gives the
university its Soldiers Field Road property, and, in return, the university hands Te SC of Boston a larger parcel to build a new multi-surface facility. Te new facility will be located just six blocks from its current site, at the corner of Everett and Lincoln streets. Under the agreement, the club can continue to occupy its current home until the new facility is finished. Te larger five acre lot will provide the necessary space for three rinks, including one for hockey and two for figure skating, one of which will be a 2,000-seat arena. Blount, who had two daughters grow up in
Te Skating Club of Boston program, said the club’s focus in recent years has been to move from being a place where primarily top-level skaters only participate to a destination for all levels of skaters, with its expansion plans reflecting that mission. Synchronized team skating, Teatre on Ice and a flourishing Basic Skills program have in- creased membership at Te Skating Club of Bos- ton from 325 when Blount took over as president in 1999 to more than 600 today. “All of those programs are keeping kids in the
club,” Blount said. “We are trying to provide them something that gives them an opportunity to stay in the sport, enjoy it and not necessarily to be at that high competitive level.” For the record Te Skating Club of Boston has had seven
men who were either members or former members who have been U.S. Figure Skating presidents. Tey are A. Winsor Weld (1921-1925), Sherwin Badger (1930-1932, 1934-1935), Charles Rotch (1932-1934,1935-1937), Benjamin Wright (1973-1976), Dr. Hugh Graham,Jr. (1986-1989) Dr. Franklin Nelson (1989-1992) and Chuck Fos- ter (2003-2005). Fifteen members of the club have been elected to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Game and six members to the World Figure Skat- ing Hall of Fame. Tere are 35 honorary members of Te Skat- ing Club of Boston, the first being George H. Browne in 1928. Tere have been 21 presidents of the club.
Countless members have served in an official capacity with the International Skating Union, the U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Figure Skating. Members including Ben Wright, Chuck Foster, Ted Patterson and Paul George have held numerous positions within these governing bod- ies.
Paul Wylie
Ross Miner
Artist rendering of The Skating Club of Boston 's new home.
SKATING 27
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