The Summerland Skating Club is a non-profit organization that offers young people the opportunity to learn how to skate and would not exist were it not for its base of parent volunteers.
“You tell yourself it’s for the kids,” explained Sandra Goodall. “If you didn’t have volunteers the kids wouldn’t have this.”
Goodall serves as the club’s Chair Person on the board of directors. She said that herself and Lidia Kotulska do most of the organizing and are the go-to people.
Throughout the year they pull from the pool of parent volunteers to help with different things.
The club puts on two shows per year. Stars on Ice was held last December and their carnival was held this past weekend.
“The carnival is one of our big fundraisers,” said Goodall. It’s quite elaborate and quite a performance. The coach we have had for the last three years, Shirley Schmidt, changed the dynamics of the club in that she has this vision of huge shows.”
Hours of work go into creating the props and costumes for the carnival.
“Lidia and I do the main part and if people can help us they do,” said Goodall. “There’s lots of sewing and sewing is going by the wayside. We’ve had lots of grandmas helping us with the sewing.”
Rehearsals for the Carnival started in January.
“The kids work for months on trying to learn their routines,” Goodall said. “They each have three or four routines that they have to get to know before Carnival.”
This year was the first time that the club held two showings for the carnival.
The decision to hold a second show in the evening came about in part because of all of the work that goes into putting the show on.
Goodall explained that it gives the parents who volunteer in the change rooms and behind the scenes the opportunity to actually see the show. Goodall split the volunteers into two groups, each only helping at one show or the other.
Throughout the whole year there are many responsibilities for the volunteers of this club. Goodall looks after the registration and spends hours in a constant flow of communication with the parents via e-mail. Christmas and Valentines parties are held for the kids and there are other fundraisers organized, such as a bottle drive and a car wash.
The board of directors meets once a month except for the month of July.
“It’s hard to find volunteers because everyone is working. People are busy,” said Goodall. “We do a lot of the work ourselves to keep our costs low so people will continue to skate.”
Paying for ice time is one of the clubs greatest costs and even though skating can be expensive, Goodall explained that the Summerland club offers the lowest rates in the valley.
A new coach from England will be taking over the club. Louise Evans will be replacing Schmidt who is moving away.
“She (Evans) moved her family from England in January to come and be with our club. She looked at all the clubs in the valley and decided to come and hang out with us,” Goodall said. “She’ll be a good asset and she has done similar shows in England.”
Goodall indicated that the club will not be changing and they will continue to have the same “big, bold shows” in the future.
“It will be good if we can get people to say, ‘yes they really do put on a good show, it is pretty amazing,’ she said.
These shows give the parents and the community the opportunity to see what these young skaters have worked so hard to achieve, thus fulfilling the reason for the club’s existence.
If you would like to find out more about the skating club and the many programs they offer go to summerlandskatingclub.com.
