Sunday, January 28, 2018

Wooden Handmade Skate Guards From 1945

Marilyn Raatz Day (who is now 83 years old) skated when she was a child in Bremerton, Washington. These wooden skate guards were made by hand by her father, William F. Raatz, in 1945. Marilyn tells me her family had limited funds and could not afford to purchase skate guards, so her father made her guards instead!




Saturday, January 20, 2018

My Son Joel - Highlighted in PR for Disney On Ice Frozen In Allentown, Pennsylvania! 1-20-18

VIDEO Disney on Ice brings 'Frozen' to the PPL Center

My son Joel is in this PR segment filmed this week in Allentown, Pennsylvania! I'm so proud of him.  Watching him gave me,  his mom, tears of joy!


This is Joel's 4th year traveling with the cast of Disney On Ice Frozen.

He's traveled the world, but right now the cast is in the USA....

In this PR segment, you'll see him skate in the ice dancing scene, but about 3/4 the way into this very long video, you'll see him introduce Ana and Elsa's performance.



By the way...Colorado Springs friends, Joel will be performing in Disney On Ice Frozen when it is at the Broadmoor World Arena the last week of March, 2018! (March 22--25) Frozen will be in Colorado for three weeks starting in late March. Come and see a Colorado Springs local and Broadmoor Skating Club skater right at home! :)






Sunday, January 14, 2018

My Sister's Son Cody and His Four Kids Go Ice Skating Together! 1-14-18

Here's a photo of my sister Lynnellen’s son Cody and his four children London, Mia, Gage, and Aiden skating together at the Palos Verdes ice rink on Sunday 1-14-18. My dad and I bought the kids the gift of learn to skate lessons!  I can't wait to go skating with them next Sunday after lesson number two.


Rebekah Earns 6th Gold Medal - 10th International Dance Passed! 1-14-18

On January 14, 2018, my daughter Rebekah passed the Austrian Waltz with Olympic Silver Medalist Ben Agosto.

The Austrian is the 10th International Ice Dance she has passed, so she also earned her 6th US Figure Skating Gold Medal ...she's now passed Senior Moves, Senior Solo Free Dance, Senior Pairs, Gold Dance, Senior Free Dance, and all 10 International ice dances! I'm a very proud mom!

(Scroll below the photos below to read more about Rebekah's figure skating journey.)

#WeGetUp @usfigureskating



Rebekah, in a way, is one of those GET UP stories.  In October of 2015, something really bad happened to her related to a setback at a drama school in Colorado.  What happened was very serious and what happened made Rebekah want to give up: not only did she stop singing, acting, and dancing, but she also stopped skating.  It took some time to move forward and "get up."

Of course, Rebekah eventually did move on, but didn't skate much for almost two years....

Then...

When Ben Agosto came to Colorado Springs in 2016, Rebekah was reluctant at first to begin skating and ice dancing again, but when her sister Annabelle went to Israel for two months to study in January of 2017, Rebekah decided to take Annabelle's lesson slots with both Ben Agosto and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt and work on International Ice Dances "for fun."  She re-discovered her love of skating because skating with Ben and Logan was so challenging.  (She also began to play the piano again and sing and took part in a musical, The Music Man, with the Colorado Ballet Society.)

Logan moved away to Dallas.  Then, Ben went away for the summer of 2017 to choreograph Cirque du Soeil, so he suggested we go to Sun Valley, Idaho to work with Brent Bommentre for the summer.  Brent was so impressed with how quickly Rebekah learned steps, that he suggested she take all 10 International Ice Dances at one test session in Sun Valley. And guess what?  She passed NINE of those 10 dances with Brent in Sun Valley!

It turned out that Rebekah tested the remaining international ice dance, the Austrian Waltz, three times.  This pass on January 14, 2018 that earned her sixth US Figure Skating Gold Medal was the third try and she passed by all three judges.  She knows that getting a "Retry" on a US Figure Skating test means to not give up, keep working, and to "Get Up."

Rebekah is a busy college student at this time and will earn her Associate Degree at Pikes Peak Community College in May of 2018.  She was very excited she got "straight A's" in the fall semester 2017.  She also just started teaching skating at Sertich Ice Center in Colorado Springs and is so excited about sharing her love of skating with others.

Rebekah is truly representative of a true GET UP story!  Yes...the saying that "If you can handle ice, you can handle anything" does hit home...

(By the way, Rebekah's sister Annabelle has already earned SIX US Figure Skating Gold Medals in Moves, Solo Free Dance, Free Skate, Pairs, Gold Dance, and Senior Free Dance.  Annabelle has two International Ice Dances left to pass and hopes to earn Gold Medal #7 before June of 2018.)

Rebekah passed her very first US Figure Skating test in April of 2005 when she just turned nine years old.  Who would have known then that she would become a US Figure Skating Sextuple Gold Medalist thirteen years later!  Go Rebekah!

Rebekah's Gold Medal record:

7-2-2011    Senior Moves in the Field passed
8-4-2013    Gold Dance Test passed
5-4-2014    Senior Solo Free Dance passed
6-1-2014    Gold/Senior Pair Test passed
6-8-2014    Senior Free Dance passed
1-14-2018   International Dance Test passed

Below is the bio on Rebekah that will appear soon in Sertich Ice Center's Coach Brochure:

Rebekah Schneider-Farris
(719) 660-4182  rfarris2@ymail.com
I was born and raised in Colorado Springs and I began skating as soon as I could walk and one of the first ice rinks I skated at was Sertich Ice Center!  I have competed in singles, pairs, and ice dancing, and I earned a silver medal at the US Championships in Juvenile Dance and earned other medals at the Midwestern Championships in both pairs and ice dancing with my brother Joel.  I am a US Figure Skating Sextuple Gold Medalist:  I've passed the Senior Moves in the Field, Senior Solo Free Dance, Senior Pair Test, Gold Dance, Senior Free Dance, and have passed all of the 10 International ice dances.  I love teaching people of all ages all I know about skating.










Saturday, January 6, 2018

Skating at DIA's Ice Rink! 1-5-18

My daughter Rebekah and I skated at the outdoor ice rink at Denver International Airport while we waited for my daughter Annabelle’s return flight from Birthright Israel!