rinkside
John Coughlin and Caydee Denney, the 2012 U.S. pairs champions, and Olympian Polina Edmunds were the guest speakers at the Peninsula Skating Club’s annual banquet on Sept. 26. The banquet was held at Michaels at Shoreline in Mountain View, Calif.
Elite Skating Academy supports skater’s cause
The Elite Skating Academy (ESA) in Burton, Mich., along with the staff at the newly renovated Crystal Fieldhouse, supported one of their skaters by bringing her story to the public during a “Skate for Cause,” on Oct. 24. Anne-Ma- rie Sab, a member of ESA’s learn-to-skate program, encouraged other skaters to take to the ice during scheduled open skates, wearing pink and/or purple in support of October’s breast cancer and domestic violence awareness month. The 11-year-old was the grand prize winner of the Young Authors’ Festival contest a year ago and is now sharing her story with others. “My goal is to educate other kids in similar domestic violence situations by sharing my story,” she said. “Someday I wish to write my own children’s books on this subject.” In spite of whatever she is going through, Anne-Marie fi nds ways to help others who may be less fortunate through her gentle guidance and sales of her handmade fundraiser scarves. Anne-Marie’s story can be seen online on her newly created Face- book page titled “Dear Anne-Marie.” This page was created as a forum for her to share her story as well as other children to share theirs.
SkateTherapy.org hosts
Texas-sized party
SkateTherapy.org, an organization devoted to
sharing the gift of ice skating with physically and devel- opmentally disabled individuals, hosted a Western-style shindig on Sept. 26 as a benefi t fundraiser. Based in Sugar Land, Texas, the group rolled out
a buff et-style dinner rinkside that included the best in Texas barbecue. It held an auction featuring many unique items such as a rocking motorcycle, and pre- sented a skating exhibition with Sugar Land’s own ath- letes.
SkateTherapy.org is one of two branches of
STARskaters (Skating for Therapy and Recreation). It was established by B.L. Wylie, fi gure skating instructor at Sugar Land Ice. Its sister program is Sled Hockey. The second annual event was an overwhelming
success, according to Wylie. “My inclination for this gala was outreach,” Wylie said. “Telling the story is important to people not familiar with the pro- gram.”
SkateTherapy.org has
a host of teen volunteer instructors who work with the special athletes on their skating and pro- grams. “Watching our 8-year-
old son on the ice brings so much pride and joy,” Rhi- annon Negron, parent of a SkateTherapy student. “Af- ter all, this is the same little boy who at one point was deemed by professionals to never do or accomplish much of anything. This program has been a huge blessing to our family.”
50 DECEMBER 2014
Kaine honored on coaching anniversary On Oct. 24, 1974, Robbie Kaine
taught his fi rst skating lesson. Last year, Kaine mentioned it to coaching colleague and former student Cheryl Demkowski Snyder. “A bunch of us said, ‘Next year, we
should plan to do something,’” Dem- kowski Snyder said. That something evolved into an
incredible 40th anniversary surprise party on Nov. 1 at Evviva restaurant in Narbeth, Pa., attended by 85 guests. Generations of Kaine’s students and colleagues were present, including April Sargent Silverstein and Russ Witherby, Wendy Millette-Megan and James Curtis, Jocelyn Cox-Strati and Brad Cox, Ron Ludington, Sue Dymec- ki and Tony Bardin, Shawn Rettstatt, Jeff Czarnecki, Kelley Morris Adair, Donald Adair, Scott Gregory, Chip Rossbach and Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre. “It was unbelievable and 100 per-
cent a surprise. Very overwhelming,” Kaine said. “It really brought me back
to remembering number one why I did it and number two what made me successful.” Demkowski Snyder, who coaches
alongside Kaine at the Philadelphia Skat- ing Club & Humane Society, and Bom- mentre, who worked with Kaine from the age of 7 until the end of his competi- tive career, both said Kaine taught much more than technical elements. “He always cared about us as
people fi rst, which is something that everybody who has taken from Rob- bie or knows him tries to pass on,” Bommentre said. “It is an honor to be a part of that legacy.” It served as a reunion and the en-
ergy in the room touched everyone. “I was blown away to be a part of
this,” Demkowski Snyder said. “Blown away that I was so blessed to fi nd Rob- bie as my coach and to be a part of his life and this history.” “I’m so grateful for those people,”
Kaine said. — Lois Elfman
*ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION BY MATT FAULKNER
PHOTO BY MARLA KAINE
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