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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-02-08, Page 9Wednesday, February 8, 2006 Exeter Times–Advocate 9 A dream fulfilled for Exeter's McElwain By Michelle Roy SPECIAL TO TI 1E TIMES -ADVOCATE (Editor's note: The author is a Grade 12 stu- dent at South Huron District High School who wrote the following story for her Writer's Craft class.) EXETER — It all started in 1974 when four-year- old Kathy Lynn Merner stepped on the ice for the first time at the Zurich arena. Her mother, Elizabeth, signed her up to skate twice a week at the Zurich Figure Skating Club. Kathy didn't like skating her first year, she says. "I cried every time I had to go on the ice, but I still went back to skating a second year." At the age of five, Kathy loved figure skating and decided she wanted to skate for the rest of her life. Her first coaches at the Zurich Figure Skating Club were Pauline and Troy Anne Bell. Kathy started skating all year round at the age of 12. In the winter she skated with the Zurich Figure Skating Club and the Ilderton Figure Skating Club, as well as guest skating at the Exeter Figure Skating Club. During the summer, Kathy lived at her aunt's house in London while skating at the Silver Thorne Figure Skating Club for eight weeks from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During this time, Kathy attended Zurich Public School for her elementary schooling. She continued following this skating schedule until she started high school at South Huron District High School in 1984, where she completed Grade 9 and 10. Kathy's skating sched- ule while attending high school consisted of two or three practice sessions a day. She skated from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. in Strathroy, at lunch time in London and usually after school as well. At the age of 16, Kathy moved to London to pursue a career in figure skating. She moved in with three flight atten- dants and attended Westminster High School in London. Kathy came home weekends to be with her family and friends and try to be a "normal" teenager. Kathy passed her gold freeskate, her gold dances and completed her sixth figure. Kathy's coach in London was Margorie Black. Kathy says, "Ms. Black was strict, disciplined but very good. I learned a lot from her. She made me a stronger person." When Kathy was 16, Black coached and chore- ographed an amateur ice show called `Rhapsody on Ice' out of Brantford. Kathy was asked to skate in this show. The cast rehearsed for eight weeks and performed in New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, for three weeks. After this experience, Kathy knew she wanted to travel with a professional skating show. As well as show skating, Kathy was also a competi- tive skater. Kathy was an ice dancer, and made it to the Central Canadian National Championships for dance. She skated at Canada's Wonderland in the summer when she was 17 and 18. At Canada's Wonderland, the performance season last- ed from May to August. They skated five shows a day, six days a week, in Cantaberry Theatre. When Kathy was 18, the Ice Capades came to Detroit, and Kathy stayed after the show for two hours to try out. Out of 22 skaters, Americans and Canadians from around Detroit, only two were asked to join Ice Capades. Kathy was one of them. The managers wanted Kathy to leave with the show as soon as possible, but Kathy refused to go until she completed her high school education. As soon as Kathy graduated, she signed a contract and she was on the road. That was August 1989. As part of Kathy's con- tract, Ice Capades required her to maintain a weight of 112 pounds. The skaters were weighed each week, and if you were over your weight, even by a pound, you were fined and the money came out of your pay- cheque. If you were over your designated weight for three weeks in a row, you were fired on the spot. Kathy says, "I saw a few girls get fired from being over their given weight and a lot of eating disor- ders when I was with Ice Capades." The costumes Kathy wore in Ice Capades var- ied. In one number she would be dressed in a long Russian dress, while in the next she would be wear- ing a flapper dress. In one show Kathy would usually have seven to eight cos- tume changes. The cos- tumes Kathy wore could be described as slinky, sparkly, beautiful, reveal- ing, and breathtaking. As for feeling self-conscious, Kathy says that "some of them were pretty small." With Ice Capades, Kathy traveled to a new city every week. Mondays were the designated travel days. The cast either drove or flew, the crew traveled the show with eight to 10 semi -trucks without the props and cos- tumes. Union rules said that if the city they were traveling to was over five hours away, they flew. The majority of the time, they flew. Once arriving at the new city, the skaters had Tuesdays off to do as they wish, the show opened on Wednesday and the skaters skated one show each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the skaters skated three shows a day. Kathy traveled nine months of the year and had three months off to go home. One summer, dur- ing her three months off, Kathy was asked to join a small show in China. Kathy gladly accepted, and performed in six major cities in China. At the age of 23, in 1993, Kathy finally decid- ed to quit performing in Ice Capades after five years. She says, "I was very tired, and sick of the lifestyle and being on the road all the time. I just wanted to go home." This is when Kathy decided to start coaching figure skat- ing. She coached singles, synchronized skating, and even choreographed pro- grams. The main places she coached at were London, Zurich, Sarnia and Exeter. Over the past 13 years of coaching, she has successfully complet- ed her level three coach- ing certificate. In 1996, Kathy was offered a job in Finland to coach two National Synchronized skating teams for a year. The phone call came in late August and she left one week later, taking a nine- month leave from her skaters in Canada. While there, she coached four teams: a Senior National team, a Junior National team and two festival teams. Kathy's Senior team had a chance of making the World Challenge Cup in Boston. Her Senior team compet- ed in Sweden, France, Italy, Russia and Finland, and made the World Challenge Cup, where they finished sixth out of 18 countries. Kathy says, "The World Challenge Cup was my best and biggest competition ever and was an amazing experience for me." After returning to Zurich to live with her parents, Kathy met Mark McLlwain and married him in 1998. They moved to Exeter in the apartment above Mark's office. Mark is a financial planner in Exeter. He and Kathy have two children, five- year old Carter, and Jackson, two. Kathy still coaches skat- ing full time. "I have to find a balance between my family and my career. Family is the most important thing to me at this moment, and I try to enjoy every minute of it. Above are skating coach Kathy McLlwain, left, and Michelle Roy at practice Monday. McLlwain's life in skating got off the ground as a four year old, when she first skated at the Zurich arena.After five years in the Ice Capades, McLlwain decided to focus on coaching figure skating. She has been Roy's coach for the last 10 years. (photo/submitted) Overall winners of the Gay Lea Foods Bonspiel held Jan. 28 at the Exeter Curling rink were Greg and Cathy Pfaff, and Steve and Sue Cooper. (photo/submitted)