Members of the Togo Figure Skating club and their parents transformed the Togo Centennial Arena into a Grammy Awards theatre, complete with a wall covered in gold records.
“I came up with the idea for this year’s theme of the Grammy Awards,” said Kate Erhardt.
She is the only member of the Togo club who is currently enrolled in the STARSkate program.
“During the program today all the skaters will be doing routines to songs that
have won Grammy awards in the past,” she said.
“We have 23 skaters in our club that range in age from three to 14 years,” said Amanda Burback, club president. “They skate on all natural ice here at the Togo arena, so we didn’t get started with practices until the end of December when ice conditions finally became optimal.
“The only time we have cancelled practice was because of temperatures that hit minus 43, and were in the minus 50s with wind-chill,” she said. “But we have also skated in puddles.”
Burback explained that the club is run completely by volunteers, and they hold an annual In Good Taste fundraiser in November so they can keep their skating fees “the lowest in the whole world!”
Krysta Taylor of Roblin, Man. is the club’s coach.
“She is a great coach,” said Burback. “She had coached for us for many years before this one, went to school for two years and then returned to us.”
Burback was also the emcee for the program. In addition, she has three children in the Togo club. Meredith, 5, has been skating for five years, Jacob, 9, has been skating for eight years and Zachary, 11, has been skating for 10 years.
There was a lot of activity observed while the skaters prepared to go on the ice. Hair to be fixed, costumes adjusted and the skates tied to the right tightness.
The program commenced with the singing of OCanada while skaters Kate and Levi Erhardt, and Krysta Taylor, carried the Canadian, Saskatchewan and Manitoba flags around the ice. The Manitoba flag is always part of the club’s routine as Togo is right on the border and has members from that province as well, said Burback.
The performances began with a duet by Jacob Burback and Max Stone, level four, who skated to the song Welcome to my House by Flo Rida.
Up next were: Raeleigh Burback, Ezarae Grieve, Ashton Leis, Easton Mann and Lucas Stone, the Pre-Can level one and two skaters, to Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake; Levi Erhardt, solo, level six, to Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd; Haven Krawetz, Shilo Blackwood and Willow Davis, level four, to Me Too by Meghan Trainor; Maison Davis, solo, level six, to Don’t Let Me Down by the Chainsmokers featuring Daya; Kate Erhardt, solo, STARSkate, to Little Red Wagon by Miranda Lambert, and wrapping up the first half of the program, a visually striking performance in the darkened arena with the upper level skaters carrying multi-coloured flashlights performing a number called the Togo Figure Skating Lightshow to Take You There by Sean Kingston.
During intermission, everyone in attendance was able to enjoy refreshments supplied by the figure skating club, and stock up on raffle and 50/50 draw tickets, as well as purchase extra roses to toss on the ice for a favourite performer.
The second portion of the show began with Kate Erhardt performing her STAR 2 Freeskate for which she had received gold medals in both the 2017 Skate Canada Manitoba Regional STARSkate Championships in Swan River on January 15, and the 2017 Skate Canada Manitoba Provincial STARSkate championships in Virden on March 4.
The following performances were: Zachary Burback, Robbie Grieve, Aiden Stone and Levi Erhardt, levels five and six boys dressed as hockey players, featuring Charlotte Henderson, level five girl, as the “referee” to Handclap by Fitz and the Tantrums; Willow Davis, solo, level four, to Happy by Parrell Williams; Jacob Burback, Levon Clark and Max Stone, level four, to Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Kate Erhardt and Maison Davis, duet, STARSkate and level six, to Shake it Off by Taylor Swift; Meredith Burback, Peyton Burback, Cage Clark, Alexis Grieve and Jocelyn Mann, levels two and three, to Roar by Katy Perry, and ending with a Togo Figure Skating Club special presentation by the senior skaters and Krysta Taylor, their coach, to the song Footloose by Kenny Loggins.
Sponsors of this event included Affinity credit Union and Saskatchewan Lotteries.
