Legacy on Ice (part 1)
Not long after the tragic plane accident at Reagan National Airport in DC, I saw that there was a skating show that was being organized in order to raise money for the impacted families. A group of my skating friends from my home club and other local clubs went in together to buy tickets to attend.
We arrived a few minutes late (the metro was delayed!), and we missed Amber Glenn’s performance. But, we were just in time to catch Johnny Weir skate and got to see the “Johnny Weir” slide done none other than the man who it’s named after. So cool!
The tribute was very touching, as it included performances from coaches and family members of some of those killed from the tragic accident. The program that gave me all the feels came from Max Naumov, who lost both of his parents on the flight. After he took his ending pose, he froze in place, while the entire arena erupted in thunderous applause.
My friend S brought a sign that was created for the LiveBarn tribute that was held a few weeks ago. The poster has been sitting at our rink for a few weeks. K decorated it with some glitter paint, and S brought it into the arena. Unbeknownst to us, we were the only people in the audience that had brought a sign! As a result, our sign (and us) made it onto national TV (check out the NPR Instagram) and several local broadcasts. You’ll see me hiding behind the sign, so my face is not fully visible.
After the show concluded, my friends and I stayed afterwards to meet some of the skaters. Sadly, only a handful of them stayed on the ice to take photos with fans, but those that did were some of our favorite skaters. Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Jason Brown, Gracie Gold, and Ilia Malinin all stuck around. Ashley Cain was also on the ice but we weren’t able to meet her.
We asked those skaters that stuck around to autograph our sign. In the end, we got Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Gracie Gold, Jason Brown, and Ilia Malinin to sign the poster. Our intention is to get the poster framed and hung up at our rink so all of our skaters can enjoy it.
I hope that our skating community can come together again – across all generations, nationalities, and ages. Hopefully the next time we gather, it will be for a happier occasion.
Next week I will share a few additional photos plus some videos from the event.