Gate City Grapevine

A Publication of the Gate City Figure Skating Club Gate City Figure Skating Club is a

community oriented skating club

for recreational, as well as

competitive, figure skaters. GCFSC

exists to encourage year-round

instructions and individual

development in the sport of

figure skating.

MARK YOUR

CALENDAR!

May 13, 20, 27—Friday Night

Show Rehearsals

May 14, 21, 28—Saturday

Show Rehearsals

May 22—Show Picture Day

May 25—Test Session

June 3—Opening Number

Rehearsal

June 4—Show Run Through

June 10—Dress Rehearsal

June 11—Spring Show & Cast

Party

June 18—Workshop with

Doug las Webster

June 24—Annual Skating

Banquet

I Dream of Disney! Rehearsals for the 13th Annual Spring Show are underway and we are pleased to announce that over 90 skaters will be participating in this year’s event!

A sneak peek at rehearsals revealed performances to the music of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Lion King, Hercules, Mary Poppins, and more. You’re sure be entertained by our princesses, chimney sweeps, genies, and mermaids. And I’ll bet you will leave the show humming your favorite Disney tunes! Circle June 11th on your calendar and join us for an afternoon of Disney Dreamin’!

Spring Show Rehearsals Important show dates are listed in “Mark Your Calendar.” Please check your individual performance email/show packet for specific details about dates and times for rehearsals.

Test Session Wednesday, May 25th Applications are available to register for the upcoming test session. Ask your coach for details.

Cast Party A cast party for all cast, friends and families will take place immediately following the Spring Show on June 11. RSVPs and payment are due in the club box at the front desk of Conway Arena no later than May 28th.

Workshop with Douglas Webster Professional choreographer, Douglas Webster, has worked with all the major skating companies in the world including Disney On Ice, Holiday On Ice, Stars On Ice, and the Sun Valley Ice Show. And he’s coming to GCFSC to conduct a workshop for our skaters! The date is set for June 18th. Stay tuned for further details.

GCFSC Annual Spring Show Saturday, June 11 at 1:00 pm Join us for a spectacular showcase of skating set to all your favorite Disney tunes!

What’s Inside:

Welcome 1

Upcoming Events 1

Happy Birthday! 2

Meet & Greet 2

Skater Spotlight 3

Skater Achievements 3

Spring Events 3

Synchro Stars News 4

Volume 3, Issue 3

Spring 2016

Caught On Camera...

Lisa Langley & Candace Sullivan catching up with Johnny Weir & Tara Lipinski in Boston before

Worlds. (above left)

Julia Fellows chatted with Gracie Gold while skating at Stars on Ice. (above center)

The JAC strategized an afternoon of activities for the Spring Meet & Greet. (above right)

Gate City Grapevine 2

April!

Isabella Cornaro Dominique Dame Priscilla Garcia Isabella Hesselton Catherine Hovan Grace Jones Jackie Knight Tyler Kuslaka Annabella Lafond Nicole Lawyer Grace Lumley Kathryn Miele Vivianne Snell Courtney Tello

May!

Alexandra Benson Lena Cook Anne DelSignore Genevieve Gratton Jessica Hanifan Ekaterina Johnson Merida Kepnes Preetika Kulkarni Sarah Lapointe Ella Marcum Katelyn McCarthy Lexy Powers Bethany Robbins

Christine Silver Ashley Stewart Ava Thomas Jia Waterman

June!

Cassandra Child Alba Clement Kelsey Cochran Meghan Dugan Julia Fellows Maggie Fitzgerald Jenna Guild Kat Howland Emma Kelsey Kimberly Koschek Alison McGonagle Angelina Piscitello Laura Piscitello Sophia Tomasello

Be sure to wish these skaters a Happy Birthday!

Making New Friends at the Meet & Greet!

On March 19th, the GCFSC hosted a Meet & Greet to introduce new skaters to the Gate City Figure Skating Club. Conway Arena’s Learn

to Skate students were invited to join current club members for an afternoon of skating , fun & games, and refreshments. The Junior

Activities Committee was on hand to coordinate and officiate a host of exciting on-ice games, to the delight of the young party-goers.

Photos by Allison Clark

Spotlight on… Ben Becker! by Kaylee Murphy

It is easy to spot Ben Becker: He’s the one zooming around the ice while wearing his signature

backward baseball cap. Since joining the Conway Arena coaching staff last summer, Ben has been

livening up the Saturday mornings with his infectious laughter and perpetual smile. He has been

coaching for about two years and currently has three private students. He got his start coaching

as an assistance coach for Theater on Ice at Nashoba Valley Olympia Ice Rink in Boxborough, MA. Ben loves

coaching and enjoys working with kids.

Ben’s parents enrolled him in skating lessons about 20 years ago because his sister did it and the rink was really

close to his home. Ben enjoys public skating. He loves the freedom and joy that a simple glide can give him. Ben’s

biggest accomplishment in Ice Dancing is passing his Gold Dances. He has also passed his Intermediate freestyle

for singles.

“The thing I prefer about ice dancing is that it’s mellow. There aren’t any jumps, and it focuses on technique,” Ben

said. He explains that even if a figure skater is interested in singles, ice dancing can improve a skater’s technique

and skating ability. Overall, it makes a skater well rounded. If a skater loves skating but isn’t a huge fan of jumping

and spinning, they may want to focus more on the dance and footwork part of the sport. Ice dancing is also a

good thing to learn because it may increase skater’s chances of performing for Disney on Ice. A lot of Disney

characters need to know how to skate with a partner.

Ben is currently in his third year at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts. He is studying English. He has a

passion for reading and writing Fantasy. When he is not skating, Ben enjoys playing tennis and watching

basketball.

If you are interested in scheduling a lesson with Ben or any of the Conway Arena coaches, please contact Lisa

Langley at Lisa@conwayarena.com.

Guest writer, Kaylee Murphy, has been skating since she was four years old and has been skating at Conway Arena

since it opened. She will be graduating from Lyndon State College this spring.

Spotlight!

In each issue, we

will introduce you

to some of the

many familiar faces

around the rink.

Gate City Grapevine 3

“Ice dancing can improve a skater’s technique and skating ability. Overall, it makes a skater well rounded.” - Coach Ben

Gate City Skaters’ Achievements Please let us know when you have represented Gate City Figure Skating Club, either at a competition or at another club’s

Test Session. Don’t be shy! We would love to share your successes with the whole club! Please email

GateCityFSC@Yahoo.com or leave a note in the Skating Club Mailbox behind the front desk.

Congratulations to the following skaters, who passed tests between December 2015 — March 2016:

Pre-Preliminary MIF Katherine Gage Katherine Gustafson Victoria Maney Mariella Tomasello

Pre-Preliminary Free Skating Alba Clement Maggie Fitzgerald Katherine Gage Eliza Howley Ekaterina Johnson Victoria Maney Marina Mousis Kaylee Ouellette Sylvia Weiher

Preliminary MIF Katherine Gage Shreya Khanal Victoria Maney Marina Mousis Kaylee Ouellette Jasmin Sabah Sylvia Weiher

Preliminary Free Skating Cassie Child Sarah Lapointe

Pre-Juvenile MIF Cassie Child Alba Clement Gracie Dortona Taisiya Sereyeva

Pre-Juvenile Free Skating Jennifer Brady Allison Clark Ashley Stewart

Juvenile MIF Bethany Carver Daphne Child Allison Clark Maggie Fitzgerald

Intermediate MIF Hannah Goldthwait Catherine Hovan Anne Nyland Alyssia Perron Morgan Read

Intermediate Free Skating Kiley McNeil

Senior MIF Julia Fellows

Preliminary Dance Test Kiley McNeil

Pre-Bronze Dance Test Kiley McNeil Jia Waterman

Solo Bronze Dance Test Meghan Lapointe

ISU World Championship in Boston! When the ISU World

Figure Skating

Championships came

to Boston from March 28—April

3, for the first time in its 130-

year history, these lucky skaters

were on hand to witness this

landmark event and meet some

of their favorite skaters!

We would like to express our continued thanks to

Hewlett Packard for their generous support in the

production of the Gate City Grapevine.

Synchro Stars

Synchro Stars, Gate City FSC’s Synchronized Skating Organization, traveled to Richmond, VA,

in January for the 2016 USFSA Eastern Sectional Championships.

The three-day event began with the Open Juvenile Team who skated to a creative video

game theme. They thrilled the audience when they performed their strongest, cleanest

program ever. The team was rewarded with a seventh place finish amongst some fierce

competition, and even better, the pride of a great skate.

Skating in their first Eastern competition ever, Synchro Stars’ brand new Preliminary

team was up next. They earned a qualifying spot in the medal round with a strong third

place skate in their flight. In the medal round, facing the toughest competition in the East

(some of the best in the country), they wowed the crowd with their Stray-Cat Strut and in the process, scored a fourth place pewter

medal to become Synchro Stars first Eastern Sectional Medalists!

Closing out the weekend was Synchro Stars’ very first entry in a

Qualifying event (IJS scoring and a trip to Nationals was at

stake). The new Intermediate Team performed a Hawaiian-themed

program to a huge audience in the Coliseum. They hula'd their way

to their highest score of the season, and made lasting memories of

the Kiss and Cry.