LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
‘Like one big family’ Organizers work hard to re-create Ice Capades magic
A couple of hours before the Ice Capades 75th Diamond Jubilee Gala Banquet at the his- toric Flamingo hotel on the Las Vegas strip, or- ganizers Gloria Spoden and Sue Rodeghier were still busy fi nalizing the emcee script, conducting a sound check and going over every last detail of the special evening. These two women, both proud Ice Capades
alums, had spent the past 2½ years working to- gether to make sure that all 430 former ice show alumni and guests had a wonderful and memo- rable time.
One glance around the huge ballroom that
night, and it was abundantly clear that they had succeeded. Pure joy fi lled the air as multiple gen- erations shared stories and relived experiences from their times with Ice Capades and the other traveling ice shows. Nothing seemed forced. Although most in
attendance hadn’t see each other in years, their conversations picked up seamlessly and there was a genuine camaraderie. Many described it as their college reunion. For Gloria and Sue, witnessing everyone’s happiness and excitement was their payback for a job well done. Becoming emotional when talking about
their eff orts, Sue said, “I don’t think Gloria and I would do it if we didn’t have the love of Ice Ca- pades. For me, it was the best times of my life. For a lot of people, this was our dream come true. You work all of your life to either go to the Olym- pics or join a famous ice show, and these people were able to do it. I get very emotional about it, because it was like our college.” Sue, a Southern California girl, performed
in all three Ice Capades companies from 1980 to 1988. The opportunity to tour the country meant she had to grow up quickly, she said. “Even though skating is familiar, that’s a
little part of touring,” she said. “You had to learn how to live on your own, the fi nances and such. When we were on the road, there weren’t computers, there weren’t cell phones or ATM cards. It was very diff erent back then.” Gloria, who hails from
Toronto, skated in the East Company from 1966 to 1971. She performed in all the major cities through- out the United States and in her native Toronto. “It’s been unbeliev-
able,” Gloria said about the response she’s received from the alumni. “People I don’t even know stop me
4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
and thank both of us for what we’ve done and all the work we’ve put into it, and I know it comes from their heart.” In organizing the reunion, Gloria took three
trips from Canada to Las Vegas to scout out loca- tions to see which property would be the best fi t. Sue, a Las Vegas resident, worked with her local connections, and the two exchanged emails al- most daily. All along, they tried to keep in mind what the majority of people would enjoy, while staying on a budget and making it aff ordable. One of the key resources in pulling every-
body together was social media. “Through Facebook, we found a lot of peo-
ple and they found us,” Gloria said. “Because of social media, we kind of know now what’s going on in their lives. It’s helped us get the word out and they passed it on to everyone else. I put out a monthly (electronic) newsletter called The Blade. In the last few months we tried to get people hyped up and excited about the reunion.” The schedule of events off ered a little some-
thing for everyone. It included a Hawaiian pool party on the fi rst night, a Mexican fi esta cocktail party on the second night and the gala banquet on the fi nal night, which featured a video that took everyone back to that magical era. Also at the gala were classic photos on display of many of the Ice Capades stars, dating back to the inau- gural 1940s decade. To spice things up even more on the fi nal
day, attendees took part in a fl ash mob perfor- mance to Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” outside of the Flamingo. At the end of the gala, people embraced
with the promise of staying in touch and seeing each other at the next reunion. “At this point in our lives, we are like one big
family,” Gloria said.
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