Tom Henihan
Express Staff
@SmokyRiverExprs
Twilight Figure Skating Club celebrated its annual Carneval fundraiser at the Guy-Donnelly Sportex Sunday March 12.
Approximately 200 people attended the event to enjoy seeing the skaters demonstrate their skill and finesse on the ice.
It was also a successful fundraiser for the Twilight club to which 32 local businesses donated money and prizes.
“Everyone is always so generous with their donations and purchases of raffle tickets,” says club president, Louise Reid.
The Carneval got underway with Janelle Beaudoin carrying the Canadian flag and skating to O Canada.
This year’s theme, “All Around the World,” saw 24 members of the club do routines representative of different countries including Italy, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, India and China.
The US was represented with pieces with Broadway, Las Vegas and Hawaiian themes.
The rink was decorated in an interesting minimalist manner with white and blue balloons, a painted map of the world and flags from various countries being celebrated.
Bollywood, celebrating India was performed by Stepping into StarSkate Brenna Garant and Anya Smit.
The fun, energetic C-A-N-A-D-A piece was performed by the preSkate group.
The Twilight Figure Skating Club Pre-Skate skater of the year award was presented to Melody Maisonneuve.
StarSkate Nathaniel Reid performed the Russian Army Dance, which was followed by performances representing Ireland, Broadway and a colourful and charming Mexican Hat Dance.
StarSkate skater, Janelle Beaudoin returned to the ice to perform Vegas Show Girl.
The 30-minute intermission gave ample opportunity to warm up with hot chocolate and coffee and to browse the vendor’s tables set up in the lobby.
Following intermission, the coaches and program assistants received flowers as a token of the club’s appreciation. The coaches were Jacqui Melnyk, Michelle Pitre, Josee Bouchard, Celina Bouchard and Shara Brochu.
The program assistants were Makenna Maisonneuve, Joel Beaudoin and Janelle Beaudoin.
Eleven year-old Makenna Maisonneuve, a member of Peace River Skating Club, gave the guest skater performance. Hailee Campbell and Nathaniel Reid performed Waltz.
The Italian Scarf Dance by the Stepping into StarSkate group was particularly animated and colourful.
The final three performances were the Hawaiian Hula Dance and the Ukrainian Dance performed by Stepping into StarSkate with the Chinese Dragon Dance by StarSkate.
The awards for skater of the year went to Alannah Dubrule (CanSkate), Téanna Campbell (Stepping into StarSkate) and Janelle Beaudoin for StarSkate.
