Aldergrove Skating Club presents “Proud to be Canadian” for their spring pop concert this Friday evening.
As the title says, the theme is Canada from shore to shore, with the 150 members of the club performing vignettes about Canada.
Long-time head coach Colleen Laferriere says the club’s productions are not as lavish as they used to be back in the ’80s when the club rented the arena for 24 hours for two shows and spent money on lavish sets and costumes.
“Our focus is on the skaters,” said Laferriere during a break in rehearsals last week.
“We’ve scaled back and try to make things, such as the T-shirts we’re using to showcase the provinces. It’s not about the costumes, it’s about the grandparents being able to see little Johnny and Jane skate in a production.”
The club does have a huge wardrobe collection to draw from, stored under the arena’s bleachers, along with skirting for the boards, two large curtains and about 30 spotlights.
The cub’s 150 members featured in the show range in age from two years old to adults, with one aged 75 being award-winning Linda Maundrell.
The club is unique in having a full seven synchronized skating teams, all of which are featured in the show. The youngest team is ages 6-7 and there are also two adult teams, ages 19 to 61.
Only one of these teams is competitive, the Ice Angels, ages 13-19. The Ice Angels competed in Oshawa, Ontario this past weekend and did well in national competition.
All of the skaters started out with the club’s Canskate program, which teaches the basics of skating: forward, backward and stopping, for all skaters, whether they are potential figure skaters, hockey skaters or purely recreational skaters.
Along with Laferriere, there are five part-time coaches working at the club, which rents 14 hours of ice time here weekly. The club also has a weekly session at George Preston Arena and Fleetwood Sportsplex.
Laferriere is looking forward to the move to the new ice arena this fall with some trepidation, as the relocation of their inventory will take considerable effort. The arena is reportedly on schedule for completion this summer, and Laferriere is counting on that to happen.
“We have a ‘soft start’ to our season in the last week of August and are full-out by the second week of September.”
Club information and registration is available on the website: https://www.aldergroveskatingclub.com/
“Proud to be Canadian” takes place Friday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Aldergrove Arena, 2882 – 272 Street.
Tickets are $10 each (free to four years old and younger) and can be purchased in advance. For ticket information email info@aldergroveskatingclub.com
