Shows in St. Louis, MO; Cambridge, MA; Grand Rapids, MI this weekend

The St. Louis Skating Club is holding its 4th annual Regionals send-off show this weekend, called the "National Hopeful Figure Skaters Exhibition," from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 7 at The Summit Center Ice Arena in Chesterfield, Missouri (west of St. Louis).

There was even a column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper's Sports section (a first!) this past Saturday -- link is: http://tinyurl.com/nafyu -- about the show and the recent achievements of St. Louis-based junior skater, Debbie Knubley (2006 North American Challenge Skate novice silver medalist), along with a mention of Brandon Mroz's silver medal at the Mexico City JGP.
[Note: The column contains an error about last year's junior dance team of Clare Farrell and Ashley Deavers, who have since split up and are skating with dfferent partners this year.]

The publicity flyer for the St. Louis show which can be viewed at
http://www.stlouisskatingclub.org/2006Exhibition.pdf
advertises that Minneapolis' Rohene Ward will be the special guest skater (for the second straight year), and other headliners in addition to St. Louis' Debbie Knubley, include past Nationals competitors senior Abigail Legg and junior Cara Kinney from Indianapolis, intermediate McKinzie Daniels, and the young dance teams of Laura Bonacorsi & Jonathan Cohn and Molly & Nathan Raymond.
Map/directions to the Chesterfield rink:
http://www.summit-center.com/FACILITY.HTM

If anyone here lives within driving distance of the Chesterfield rink, please consider supporting the local skaters going to Regionals by attending this show on Saturday. Thanks!

What? “An Evening with Champions” annual skating show to benefit the Jimmy Fund
When? October 6 & 7, 2006. Times: 8 pm Friday show; 7 pm Saturday show
Where? Harvard University’s Bright Hockey Arena
How much? $32 Adults / $12 Children & Seniors

Host
Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist

Ladies
Oksana Baiul, 1994 Olympic Gold Medalist [Friday night only]
Stephanie Rosenthal, PSA Award for Best Ladies Performance at 2006 Nationals
Emily Hughes, 2006 National Bronze Medalist, 2006 US Olympic Team Member

Men
Matthew Savoie, 2006 National Bronze Medalist, 2006 Olympic Team Member
Scott Smith, 1998 Junior National Champion, 2006 US Nationals 5th place

Pairs
Oleg Protopopov and Ludmilla Protopopov, 1964 & 1968 Olympic Gold Medalists
Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins, 2006 Junior World Champions, 2006 Junior National Bronze Medalists

Dance
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, 2006 Olympic Silver Medalists, 2006 National Champions
Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin, 2005 World Junior Champions; 2003 & 2004 Junior National Champions; 2006 Four Continents Silver Medalists

Synchronized Skating
The Haydenettes, Fifteen-Time National Champions

Novelty Acts
Act I of Boston, Gold Medalists at 2005 International Theatre on Ice

Here's a short USFS publicity article for EWC:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_story.asp?id=35634

http://www.vanandelarena.com/schedule_event.asp?Events_ID=3558

Van Andel Arena's 10th Anniversary Celebration On Ice, Hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi

Tickets All tickets are $20 and include all-you-can-eat concessions*!
Date Sunday 10/8/2006
Time 3:00 PM

Skaters to perform include:

-Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto (2006 Ice Dancing Olympic Silver Medalists)
-Yuka Sato (World Champion) & Jason Dungjen (2-Time U.S. Pair Champions)
-Alissa Czisny (Skate Canada Gold Medalist)
-Brian Orser (Olympic Silver Medalist, World Champion and the event’s director and choreographer)
-Angela Nikodinov (2-Time U.S. Bronze Medalist)
-Silvia Fontana (5-Time Italian Champion)
-Oksana Baiul (1994 Olympic Champion)
-Shawn Sawyer (2-Time Canadian Bronze Medalist)
-Western Michigan University’s Senior Synchronized Skating Team (International Silver Medalists)

From USFS' recent article on Angela Nikodinov:
"Her [Nikodinov's] first public performance since December 2004 will be Oct. 8 at an exhibition in Grand Rapids, Mich."

Just bumping this back up. Reviews from any of these 3 shows would be welcomed! Juliana Cannarozzo (with 2 JGP gold medals) is the latest addition to Harvard's “An Evening with Champions” cast.

I saw the Protopopovs practicing yesterday. Dick Button wouldn't be able to say a thing about their death spiral, not a thing. If I can move half so fluidly when I'm in my seventies, I will be a happy camper....