Probus Club of Gravenhurst Newsletter Volume 8, Issue 1 January 2010 Founded March 18, 2003 Club No. 142 P.O. Box 822, Gravenhurst, ON. P1P 1V2 January This Month’s Guest Speaker: Michelle Leigh – Mariposa Skating Club Meeting th January 19 , 2010 Topic: The Club’s History & Competing at an Elite Level Highlights • 1977 Canadian Novice Bronze Recorded Attendance: Medallist of Canada 101 members, 7 guests • Has coached at 3 Olympic games: Albertville (1992), Nagano (1998), and Draw Prizes Salt Lake City (2002) Grace Price • Coached athletes at 14 World & Championships Ruby McCready • Coached athletes at 20 Canadian Photo by Marv McCabe Two New Members Championships Paul & Sue Kelly • Coached skaters at over 55 international events • Coached at 4 European Championships • Former and Present Students include: Jennifer Robinson, February Jeff Langdon, Elvis Stojko, Takeshi Honda (JPN), Steven Meeting Cousins (GBR), Oula Jaaskelainen (FIN), Peter Johannson (SWE), Alice Sue Claeys (BEL), Helen Persson (SWE), Jan February 16 th , 2010 Erik Degernes (NOR) Gravenhurst Opera House Add to this resume, recent Olympic torch bearer and you have a 10:00 a.m. pretty good idea of how special this month’s guest speaker is as a coach, an athlete and a Canadian. Guest Speaker An alternate guest speaker Michelle was introduced by John Ayling who also demonstrated a is being sought at the time number of very professional figure skating skills. Michelle tried to of publishing this enlist him as a coach, but John was too busy curling! newsletter. Check our website for updates On a more serious note, Michelle gave us a very interesting, wide - www.gravenhurst-probus.ca ranging talk, not only on skating at the highest levels, but on many important life skills, attitudes, and psychological skills that this sport Topic teaches people. She, herself, was a very talented skater whose TBA performance career was brought to a crashing halt by a career ending injury. In her case it was a blessing as she went into coaching and found her life dream career there. In 1971 she was skating in the same club as Brian Orser, both of them coming from the Elmvale, Penetang, Midland area. In 1973 the Mariposa School of Skating was started in Orillia, and, as it's necessary to skate all year 'round at the professional level, the Twin Lakes summer program was started. This drew people from a wide area. In 1976, both Brian and Michelle participated in the Canadian Championships (Brian broke his foot). In 1977, Brian won the Men's, and Michelle came 3rd. Brian captured the Silver medal in the 1980 Calgary Olympics and again in Sarajevo in 1984. This attracted many international skaters to come to Canada to train. In 1980, Orillia rejected a new arena concept to meet the needs of the skaters, but Barrie welcomed the idea, hence the move to Barrie and a 5 yr. ice time commitment. There is also a secondary school right beside the arena so education and training can be far more functional. It is also significant that the Mariposa Skating Club has hosted a number of Galas to raise funds for a place for parents to stay when their children are in hospital - to date around $1,100,000 ! Michelle felt that we have many great Canadian prospects for skating medals at the upcoming Vancouver Olympics. She fielded many audience queries in an enjoyable and much appreciated question period. Gord Durnan thanked Michelle and highlighted her emphasis on mental skills and Champion in Life skills. Contributed by: Doug Tanner, Photo by Barrie Brown Michelle Passes Her Olympic Torch An unadvertised “Bonus Event” took place at January’s meeting when guest speaker, Michelle Leigh brought her Olympic Torch to display and pass around providing many memorable photo ops for members . (Photos by Barrie Brown) Meet Our Newest Members Membership Chair, Liz Rice and President, Barb McCabe welcomed our newest members to the club during the January meeting. Meet Paul & Sue Kelly. Please make an effort to say “Hi” and make them feel welcome. (Photo by Marv McCabe) Get Ready For A Crazy February Beach Party! What must the Kellys have thought when our Social Committee members came parading down the Opera House aisle in these get-ups? It was all great fun as part of the February Beach Party promotion. Media Chair, Barrie Brown set the stage for their entrance with movie trailers from Elvis’s Blue Hawaii, followed by another with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in Beach Party, then on Barb’s cue, they entered to “Surfin’ Safari” and danced up a storm in front of the stage. Make life a beach on February 19 th and join us at the Canadian Legion. Photos by Marv McCabe Our 2009-2010 Management Team President: Barb McCabe 684-8333 [email protected] Past President: George Douglas 687-8152 [email protected] Vice President: Janice King 687-4844 [email protected] Secretary: Marv McCabe 684-8333 [email protected] Treasurer: Nan Brown 684-8872 [email protected] Membership: Liz Rice 687-8325 [email protected] Speakers: Lola Bratty 687-9178 [email protected] Newsletter & Media: Barrie Brown 684-8872 [email protected] Activity Chair: Linda Harrison 687-7679 [email protected] Social Chair: Gord Durnan 687-5565 [email protected] Meeting Facilitator: Fran Dowd 687-5766 [email protected] Archives: Sue Wheeler 687-8690 [email protected] Know A Member Who’s Sick or Hospitalized ? Call Marv at 684-8333 or email him at [email protected] and he’ll be sure to send an appropriate card on behalf of his/her Probus friends. The Last Word Another calendar year begins ! We all receive points to ponder for the New Year of 2010 and ones that jumped out at me (and make me think of our Probus members) are: Live with.... Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy. We are members of such a vibrant, active, interesting club and it has been my pleasure to act as President for 6 months; I so look forward to the next 6 months. Hoping 2010 is already a good year for you and yours. Barb .