Skating club hosting Night at the Movies

FIGURE SKATING

The Chatham Figure Skating Club goes Hollywood on Friday night.

A Night at the Movies is the theme for the annual ice show at Thames Campus Arena at 7 p. m.

The event brings together all the club members, from the very youngest to the top competitive skaters.

The club is bringing back a crowd favourite -- the father-daughter, or mother-son, number -- for this year's show.

The performers include Katrina de Liberato, who went to the Canadian junior championships in pre-novice ladies, and pre-novice dancers Chelsea Robinson and Michael Guyett, who also competed at the junior national championships.

Also scheduled to perform are: William Lindsay, a two-time competitor at the senior national championships; and Paige Newman and Ashley Glassco, each of whom won a silver medal at the 2008 Skate Ontario championships. Admission is $5.

CHATHAM DUO SKATING AT JR. NATIONALS IN CALGARY

You know your dance routine is going well when even the judges are bouncing along to the music.

That's the reaction Chelsea Robinson and Michael Guyett have enjoyed a few times this season.

The pre-novice duo from the Chatham Figure Skating Club do their free dance to the upbeat tune, I Like to Move It.

"It was a good choice," said Robinson, 14, of Dresden. "It gets the crowd going, 'Oh, my gosh!' Sometimes we see the judges kind of getting into it dancing."

Their moves have carried Robinson and Guyett all the way to the Canadian junior championships in Calgary.

They performed their two compulsory dances yesterday. Their free dance is today.

It's the first trip to the nationals for Robinson and Guyett, who have been together for less than two years.

"To make it to a Canadian championship in a year-and-a-half is pretty amazing," coach Christina Wootton-Luckhurst said.

Robinson and Guyett continue to exceed their own expectations.

They were surprised last season to not only qualify for the Ontario Winter Games but also win gold medals as juveniles.

This season, they won bronze at the Western Ontario sectional championships and then placed eighth at Skate Canada's Western Challenge to earn the trip to Alberta.

Skating with a smile

After conquering a bad cold, Katrina de Liberato refuses to get worried sick about the Canadian junior skating championships this week in Calgary.

The 13-year-old from the Chatham Figure Skating Club is just happy to be at the nationals for the first time.

She performs her short program today and her free skate Friday in the pre-novice women's division.

"I've been sick for awhile, so I just want to do my best and get through my program strong and well," de Liberato said. "I've done the hard stuff. This is the fun reward."

The "hard stuff" was the qualifying meets. She won a bronze at the Western Ontario sectionals and then placed eighth at Skate Canada's Western Challenge to earn a berth at the nationals.

She's surprised to be at the Canadian championships in her first pre-novice season.

"There's no pressure," she said. "Everyone just wants me to enjoy it."

De Liberato is a graceful, smooth skater with a "classic style," Chatham Figure Skating Club coach Lori Gunn said.

"You can really see she's a trained ballerina in her lines. ... She has a beautiful presence on the ice. She's breathtaking to watch."

Her speed has improved this season and she's hitting her elements with more consistency.

De Liberato always skates with a big smile, Gunn said, but she can be a fierce competitor. She strives for perfection, even in practice, and is a stickler for details.

Skaters win seven medals

Chatham Figure Skating Club members won seven medals at the Edith Scheonrock International Competition on the weekend.

Madelyn Alexander won a gold in juvenile showcase and a bronze in juvenile ladies free skate.

Paige McIntyre won a gold in pre-juvenile ladies free skate.

Faith McIntyre won a silver in basic skills Level 5 elements and a bronze in Level 5 free skate. Brianna Lachance earned a bronze in pre-preliminary ladies.

Benjamin Alexander won a pewter medal in beginner showcase and was eighth in beginner free skate. Jade Parker was seventh in beginner free skate.

Operation Red Nose organizer seeing red over drunk drivers

Despite a successful 2008 Operation Red Nose campaign, the local organizer said Sunday that motorists in Chatham-Kent continued to drink and drive on nights the program was running.

During the campaign, which runs through the Christmas holiday season, a total of 523 volunteers drove 1,370 people home. Those numbers compare well to the 2006 stats, which saw 484 volunteers drive 988 people home, although they are slightly less than the 2007 stats of 557 volunteers and 1,394 rides.

Even so, Chelle Cartier-Davidson said she was dismayed to hear that Chatham-Kent Police still handed out 18 12-hour suspensions to drivers on nights Operation Red Nose was running. The OPP also reported eight 12-hour suspensions and four impaired charges on the same nights.

And, while there were no fatalities as a result of drinking drivers, Cartier-Davidson said, “we should have been a zero tolerance community.”

The campaign held its 12th annual volunteer and sponsor appreciation event at Crabby Joe’s Sunday afternoon, at which time Cartier-Davidson also announced a total of $8,240 in donations had been received from those who had received the rides. She noted that the amount was down $2,000 over last year’s total, but said, “it doesn’t surprise us, considering how many people are laid off.”

Part of the Operation Red Nose mandate is to turn that money back into the community to organizations which benefit youth.

As the host organization, the Drug Education Alliance receives the lion’s share of the donations, at $4,420. The remaining money was divided up among groups which volunteered, based on the amount of volunteer hours provided.

As a result, the following donations were made: Scouts Canada, $850; Chatham Figure Skating Club, $1,000 and Chatham-Kent REACT 6124, $1,980.

Cartier-Davidson commended all the sponsors and volunteers who were involved in the 2008 campaign, helping to keep the roads of Chatham-Kent safer.