OK, let me get this thread back on track...

It was great to see and meet everyone today. There were so many good performances....let's see...I hope I don't leave anyone out!

Loops and NoVa did an awesome job in their event, as did Rob and Jenny. Flo and Schoolfigures were terrific in Pairs Interp- and their costumes were beautiful as well. I am now the proud owner of a Flo-made silk tissue-pack holder - in gorgeous blue color tones. It was great to meet FrankR, icecatepairs, NaomiBeth1, rlichtefeld, and anyone else I may have forgotten.

Sk8pics did a great job in her CM event and Loops's Interp was fabulous as always. So sad to think this is the last time "To Where You Are" will be performed. Starskate and partner had a great program (Congrats, guys!) as did starskate in his singles Interp (Congrats again!). And starskate also excelled as the ice monitor for my event (and others).

As for my spins event, well....I was a bit perturbed that the video guy only taped the lobby end for the half-ice events (and I was, of course, at the Zam end) but considering that I did my better spins during the warm-up, it's probably better that there's no video evidence - lol. Oh well, spins are not my forte (to put it mildly) so I was pleased to just complete the required number of revs and not fall over on my toepicks. And I got one of the nifty scarecrow-shaped medals. I haven't competed since Feb so it was good to get back in comp mode with a less-pressured event (as opposed to FS). I really need to work on my comp nerves - I hate how I can do stuff in the warm-up but then mess up in the comp - grrr. And I really need to get cracking on FS elements - I've been focusing more on MIF lately.

And it was great to see phillyskater (who looks great!) -she and her team worked very hard on the event. My one complaint was that the rink was so cold (I could hardly feel my legs in my event)! But I know philly and crew don't control that.

Well, I'll be back tomorrow for the FS events. Looking forward to seeing more great programs!

Thanks for the kind words, Debbie. I'm glad you were able to make it to the comp in time to see us. We appreciated everyone's plaudits and kind words. We're definitely happy that the program was much better than at Peach. (Had a few synchornicity problems, but they were minor.)

Anyway results are up:
http://www.iceworkssc.org/HalloweenClassic/hc2005a.html

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Chiming in again...

It's late and I'm tired, so I'll be brief. Everyone was really impressive in their FS events today. I started out the day watching a clubmate win No-Test FS - it was her first FS comp and she did a great job. Then I saw sk8pics in her FS event - great spiral and ending spin! (plus sk8pics remembered to smile - I always seem to forget to do that -lol) Loops, NoVa, MusicSkateFan, icecatepairs, NaomiBeth1, and starskate all did a great job in their FS events (and anyone else here I may have forgotten to mention). It was great to meet MusicSkateFan and Beccapoo today (in addition to those I met yesterday).

Overall the comp was very enjoyable. I thought some things could have been improved - such as the noisy kids getting their rental skates while FS events were going on - and then there were those kids that decided to come up to sit on the metal bleachers to put their skates on, which meant they had to walk on the bleachers in their skates to get down to the floor. (I guess this is why rental skates are always dull.) I know the rink can't move their skate rental window, but you'd think at least the rink staff could point out that there was a competition going on right in front of them. I also think it might be a good idea to move the medal ceremony back to the snack bar area instead of in the lobby, b/c in addition to the general noise level which made it hard to hear names and events when they were called, we also had to contend with hockey players and public session skaters and parents pushing their way through and bumping into people with their bags and such.

But all in all, it was a great event, well-run (no hour-long schedule backups this year) with a lot of great people and great skating. Thanks to phillyskater, starskate, and the rest of the Ice Works FSC crew for their hard work in putting the competition together.

I agree 100%. The main thing I'd add would be to break up the warm ups. 7 people in a warm-up was a free for all (esp. as a lefty), and even worse was the 8 guys in the Silver Men. They all were so fast and are so agressive that I have to believe it was a difficult warm-up. It was a great event, and one of my favorites to watch.

I had a great time at the event, especially in the Maneuver Teams Event! That event was a blast - maybe next year they can split Pre-Bronze, Bronze, Silver and Gold all into separate events.

Overall it was a blast - and I was as consistent as could be - LAST in every event I entered!

Hi,
What a fun time! The club did a great job and were wonderful hosts. Congrats to all! I tried to see as many as I could while running back and forth from my booth. The ladies and men's bronze groups were strong - as were what I saw of silver.
A special congrats to Mika on her first competition. I was a clean beautiful program. It was great to see everyone there, and I too would have liked the medals presented in the snack bar area - so I could have seen them - and I think there was more room and no conflict with the dancing machine.
I had a great time with the interp pairs - and of course the team event. My magic wand is available for future events!

I also had fun having a vendor booth at the event. I've not done this before, so any suggestions are welcome. I know the other vendors did not do very well, so I'd like to know what the skaters would like to see. I'll also put this on another thread. The best part about it was that I got to meet folks comming by. I did close up early to put Mika on and see some events, so if any one wants anything special, just let me know.

Congrats all around!

There were some

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I must agree about the frigidity of the rink and the public session issue.
BUT.....
The competition was very well run, and the organizers were WONDERFUL!! I felt very welcome as an Adult Skater. I will definitely be back! (Muahahhaahaha)! The rink is pretty close to the airport, the hotel rates are reasonable, there are lots of good resteraunts around, and liquer stores (oops, did I say that) ... I told myself I was gonna behave this weekend, but Rob L put a bug in my ear and we had some fun with NOVA's freeskate, which by the way was very nice! Also, Saturday night we spent a lot of time pulling pranks (geez, I just can't help it)!
I must mention that Rob's spin program was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I hope he puts some pics up.
It was great to meet some of you guys and now put faces with names.
Thanks to all for a great weekend, and may the saga continue......
Adult Skaters rock!!
Becca

Hello all,

I thought I should add my kudos to the organizers of the Halloween Classic as well. I had a lot of fun at this event and it was great meeting new people and seeing familiar faces again. The only frustrating thing was not knowing who's who on skatingforums!

I forget who told me that it might be a good idea to walk around with name tags having our screen names on them. The more I think about it the more I'm warming up to the idea.

I really enjoyed the team event. I'd never participated in one before but I was so glad I participated in this one. Within our own team, we really rallied around each other for support not only for the team event but for our individual events as well. Then, during the team event, I think the support we gave each other between the different teams was also great. I couldn't help but feel that the whole experience was so positive and warm. (Warmth in the emotional sense, not the environmental sense. My toes are still ice-cold and blue. )

The freeskate events were awesome! The pairs and singles events were extremely enjoyable. Everyone was great but I have to throw a huge "YOU ROCK" to the silver class five lady who threw an axel in her program.

It was great to meet DebbieS and renatele. I'm not sure if I met any more of us from skatingforums. I think I met flo (Were you wearing the wings flo?). If I met anyone else, please by all means, PM me and remind me. I don't want to lose track of who I met this weekend.

Take care,

Frank

Chiming in to say that I had a fantastic time and it was so great to meet everyone! I liked the whole competition very much, although I of course agree about the freezing cold being tough! I also thought a few more ice cuts would have been nice; the ice was pretty pathetic by the time my compulsory moves event took place. I think it had been 3 1/2 hours since a cut by then!

Thanks for the kind words, Debbie. The photographer had been telling me all weekend not to forget to smile and I remembered somewhat in my free program! But the smile I had at the end was because I was so excited about my final spin! I think it was the best one I have ever done, and certainly the best I ever did in competition. My coach was pretty happy about it, too!

The coolest part (well, besides the spin) was the small avalanche of animals thrown onto the ice when I finished my free skating program. Just so nice of people and really cool. I don't even know who all threw me something, so a big thank you to all!

It was especially fun at the party on Saturday night! Just nice to meet new people and get to know others better.

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Hi Frank,
Yes, flutter, flutter - I was in the wings. Thought I was going to put an eye out going into the layback! The team event was a hoot. It's fun to have all of us on the ice at the same time.
I actually do have a "flo" t-shirt when many of us were on the "other" board. I think we had them made for a nationals so we could find eachother.
My toes have thawed. We need blankies for next year!

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A big CHEER for the IceWorks SC, Phillyskater, and all the rest !!! You all ROCK. Your facility is great & your hospitality was wonderful. Thank you for a very enjoyable weekend.

Thanks for the extra locker room space this year!! Yes, the few issues mentioned above could have been better, but everything worked out. My bigger concern with the large warm-up group (Silver Men) was the LLLooooonnnnggg wait AFTER the warmup for the last skaters in the group. The 7th & 8th skaters are really left at a disadvantage with the long wait in the cold to skate their programs. WOW, with 8 Silver men, could they have not split into some age groups? or maybe the particular mix of ages just didn't work out for that?
Anyway, the issues were minor bumps in a very well-run show.

CONGRATS to all of us for some GREAT skating and more fun than anyone could ask for.

It was really nice to meet some of you-wish I could have stuck around but sickness prevailed and packed it up and went home. I'm bummed about missing sooooo much

Does anyone have the video vendor info? I would like to get up with him about getting a copy of an event.

My husband was really thrilled to watch the maneuver event-he is even thinking about entering that part next year! Gotta get him up to pre-bronze......

Terry

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hope you feel better!

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The photographer was Nice Images.
(302) 355-0506
www.niceimages.biz

I thought they did a good job with the photos. I could never see our Pairs program, so didn't buy a video.

Rob

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2010 Adult Nationals - earning a gold - "Priceless"
2009 Adult Nationals - competing with a cold is not much fun.
2008 Adult Nationals - Too little sleep, too much vodka!

Thanks! It's just one of those things-I sound pretty bad right now (actually I don't sound anything with no voice) the cough is really bad and I'm wiped out-but I've never had a fever with this thing! I'm on the mend and can't wait to get back to the ice (tomorrow p.m. I think).

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Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Wow, it was great to see everybody again! FrankR, icecatepairs, skate1965, Debbie S, flo, MusicSkateFan, skatergirlva (but I see her all the time ), Rob, Becca, Jenny, NaomiBeth, careygram, mdvask8er, 2salchow, starskate and philly... meeting mikawendy and sk8pics (and having quite an interesting conversation yesterday with sk8pics' coach)...

The dressing room situation was much better than last year, and the only real issues were the FREEZING cold rink and the warmups, but that was better than last year too. At least my freestyle event (9 of us) was split into two warmup groups.

Oh, I skated, didn't I? Nova and I were pretty happy with our pairs program, my interp could have been better but could have been a lot worse, and my FS was pretty good too. Not perfect, but when is it ever?

Congrats to everyone who goes out on the ice alone wearing lycra and stretch velvet, knowing you're going to be videotaped! And thanks to everyone at IceWorks.

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Yes, I remember hearing part of your conversation with my coach, and thinking how cool it was. I'm glad he was able to come and help me and his other students and also see more adult skating and talk to more adult skaters, especially pairs skaters! And it was really nice to get to know you a little bit.

I forgot to mention that, I think it was on Saturday, it became clear that the guys in their locker room could hear everything we were saying in the locker room next to them, and it was pretty funny and entertaining! It was nice that there was enough space for everyone, but really, the way the locker rooms open up into the rink is NOT a good thing!

I think I forgot to say this before, but really the folks in Aston did a super job and I'm looking forward to next year!

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August 22, back on the ice!

I had a great time, especially during the times when I wasn't being nervous before my FS event on Sunday!

Many many thanks to flo who put me on the ice and kept me cool and collected before my FS event!! She also took care of me right after when I was still a bundle of nerves!

I really enjoyed meeting so many new people and seeing some people from the forum--sk8pics, LoopLoop, Skate@Delaware (feel better soon!), starskate6.0, and others. I couldn't find you all--I agree that nametags or something would be a good idea!

Sk8pics, I really liked your FS program--the choreography and your presentation were really nice--and the spiral was great! Your coach is super nice, too!

The team maneuvers events on Saturday were a hoot! The Southern Comfort was too funny! Interp was great, too, especially pairs interp--flo and her partner had really nice side-by-side brackets and their side-by-side camel spins were perfectly coordinated.

I watched the no test, prebronze ladies, prebronze men, and bronze men FS events on Sunday morning, and everyone did a stellar job. One prebronze man had a program filled with spreadeagles and interesting transitions (not a single crossover in his program!). The Bronze Men event was really outstanding, too--*fast* spins, high jumps, and overall really good presentation and attack. Some of the bronze men stuck around to watch a friend of theirs skate in Bronze I/II FS that afternoon--thanks to them and everyone else who stayed so late in the day--it was nice to have so many spectators during the event (it made it less test-like with more than just judges watching). I also enjoyed watching the Bronze III ladies FS event. And the Gold men FS event was GREAT, too!

I also liked the exhibitions that the club planned. I hope the club realizes that there really were a lot of spectators in the snack bar (for warmth).

Thanks to the hosting club for putting on such a great event! I'll definitely be back next year!

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Becca, Jenny and I made it through the 2005 Halloween Classic. It was a big competition. There were 8 guys in Silver Men!! (I'm glad I didn't enter it.)

The rink was extremely cold. EXTREMELY COLD. It was also
Olympic size. The locker rooms also were not heated. It was
hard to get warmed up and then stay warm after the warm up.

The three of us did the Silver/Gold Maneuver Team event. Becca
did the layback and Axel, I did the Camel/Sit and Spiral
Sequence and Jenny did the Single/Single combo. We skated
under the name "Southern Comfort". We dressed in tie-dye and
took swigs from a large Southern Comfort bottle on the ice with us.
(Unfortunately we had filled it with tea.) We yelled things
like "FreeBird", and other southern-isms. Jenny also blackened
her eye with makeup and she and Becca had a "fight" on the ice
right after the warm up, where Becca popped her a good one.
Becca had a slight problem with the Axel and I totally screwed
up the Camel sit, and we still came in 6 of 7.

Jenny and I placed 2nd of 2 in the Silver Pairs event. We knew
that there was no way we could beat Loop-Loop and NovaSkr
unless they didn't finish their program. They won the
Silver Pairs event at AN last year and are a very good very strong team.
They skated up to Gold Pairs at Peach and won. But, we wanted to
put our program on the ice. (You've gotta do it a few times
before the judges if you hope to even stand up at AN).

Becca did her "Bad to the Bone" routine for the Adult Interp and
came in 2nd of 7. She also did Masters MIF and came in 3rd
of 3. And she came in 3rd of 7 in Silver Compulsory Moves III&IV.

In the Silver CM III&IV, I came in 5th of 7. And, I WON the
Silver Spins III&IV event! There were 6 others in the event
and when I skated it I didn't think I would even medal. I
guess the spins looked better than they felt. It had the only
good camels I hit all day.

I have the video of Jenny's and my skate at:
http://www.gerfsc.com/videos.htm
(My camcorder was messing up, so that is all I was able to tape
the whole event.)

I'll post some photos the next day or so on the Geriatric site:
http://www.gerfsc.com

I need sleep. There were late night pranks! (I think a garbage can, ironing board and potted plant travelled more in one night that some competitors getting to the competition.)

It was great meeting a lot of new people from this forum and renewing old friendships. Adult comps are very special events. They recharge my batteries.

Rob L.

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2010 Adult Nationals - earning a gold - "Priceless"
2009 Adult Nationals - competing with a cold is not much fun.
2008 Adult Nationals - Too little sleep, too much vodka!

....so....if it was filled with tea, that means it had to have been emptied at some point, right?

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Thanks, Mika! That program has evolved over the year, and I like it, too. I got such a kick when you came up and introduced yourself and told me you collect autographs from clockwise skaters! And I wanted to say I watched you skate, too, and you didn't seem nervous at all! Great job and I liked your dress, too!

Time for sleep for me, too!

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Thanks! I was TREMBLING inside the whole time I skated. About halfway through, I was thinking to myself, screw the placements--I just want to be finished! But at the same time I was enjoying myself. And this I pay money to do!

The whole afternoon of the event, I kept running into people who were going to be skating in that same free skate event, and we were telling each other how nervous we were!

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I had an extra copy of the video order form in my skate bag--it's Action Sports & More Photography / Nice Images, 302-355-0506. There's no address on the order form. The video was $25 for first event, $15 for each additional. I gave them a tape of my own; otherwise it was $10 for the DVD or $5 for a blank tape. I don't recall what shipping was. What I forgot to ask was whether when you pay for an event you get a whole flight of skaters (the entire group of skaters in that event) or just yourself. I'm kind of thinking it's the latter, which is too bad, because it would be nice to have the whole flight.

Edited to add: Skate@Delaware, I think for the team maneuvers event, you just can't have passed above the highest FS test for that team maneuver level (e.g., for Prebronze/Bronze maneuvers, team members can't have passed Silver FS). That would mean that even if your husband hasn't passed Prebronze freestyle by next year, he could still compete on a Prebronze/Bronze maneuvers team.

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Yeah, Becca emptied it BEFORE she came to the event!

Although, the bottle made it's rounds. It was a prop on the ice for our Team event. It was in the hotel hallway in front of Judy and Paul's room (along with many other things). It was slid on the ice after NovaSk8r freestyle.

It had a good life.

Rob L.

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Facebook
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"I'm too old to die young, and too smart to be happy" - Kinky Friedman, The Mile High Club

2010 Adult Nationals - earning a gold - "Priceless"
2009 Adult Nationals - competing with a cold is not much fun.
2008 Adult Nationals - Too little sleep, too much vodka!

Good showing for skaters from Skating Club of Lake Placid...Elise Nelson and Karen Guenette.

Way to go ladies.

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I would like to thank the competition comittee of Aston, PA for doing a smooth job on running the whole event. I had a good time, thank you.

Congratulations to all competitors in my group, from what I saw, those were great programs

See you again at the 2006 New Year's Invitational


Be safe and Happy skating

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