U.S. AND WORLD
FIGURE SKATING
CHAMPIONS LIVE
A BIG THANK YOU!!
TO THE SKATERS WHO MADE
THE SHOW A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS
WHAT A GREAT EVENT!
September 13, 2006
What another amazing weekend for the second U.S. & World Figure Skating Champions LIVE ! A weekend full of great skating, generous donations, selfless volunteers, and hardworking family members.
To give you an idea of the Family effort…My mom organized the entire silent auction, recruited volunteers, and pulled together any loose ends to make the show work. My wife, Lisa, was the head honcho….organizing everything from the VIP reception to after show skater party. My sister - Genna manned the mic at the silent auction… Brother in Law - Brad was the MC announcer and donated Gold’s Gym memberships…Father in law contributed to the music and auction items, other Brothers in law - Dal and Billy were in charge of security for the skaters, and donated corporate Gold’s Gym memberships…Sister - Geremi helped with the on ice seating….Sister in law - Maryellen donated a beautiful handmade “Totally Rocks” necklace to the auction…Mother in law - Nano handled the grandkids during the weekend and helped with transportation of the skaters. Sister in law - Maria was there to confuse everybody (she is the identical twin of my wife Lisa, -- many of you think you saw Lisa…you didn’t…you saw Maria)…. It really was a family effort to make the show a success again this year!
And a Huge thank you to the volunteers that made this show possible. Their commitment to support our show, is what this foundation is all about. Sue Elseth, as the seating director, took charge and sat the audience quickly and efficiently. SkateQuest of Reston, and Mike Ryan, continued their support by hosting the event, and making all of the skaters feel welcome. A special thank you to Betsy Willoughby, and the front desk staff for their hard work in organizing ticket sales.
To save on hotel expenses, and get more $ to the scholarships…..Lisa and I had 16 house guests (all skaters) spend the weekend with us. So, it was an atmosphere for a good time! From volleyball and basketball in the rain, to hockey, tennis, and dancing….the skaters enjoyed their time in VA ! Thank you again to the skater’s for donating their time.
With a successful show and auction….This year’s event was able to raise $30,000 to be awarded as scholarships again for the 2006-2007 skating year. We will soon announce the acceptance of applications for the scholarship process. Thank you again to all of the supporters of the Michael Weiss Foundation !
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| Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev |
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| Peter, Naomi and Michael |
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| Silvia and Emily |
Morgan and Naomi |
Michael Weiss Raises $30,000 With Foundation Show
by Amy Rosewater,
Special to U.S. Figure Skating Online
Raya Willoughby had an important skating competition the morning of Sept. 9, so the 10-year-old juvenile skater performed her routine in Philadelphia at the Challenge Cup in the morning. Then she and her family bolted the rink as soon as possible.
Several hours later, she still had no idea where she had placed in the event, as her group was still competing when she left.
That's because she was going to open the Second U.S. and World Figure Skating Champions Live event at SkateQuest in Reston, Va. She received a special invite from three-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss, who headlines the show and donates the proceeds to young Olympic hopefuls. Willoughby, who lives in Leesburg, Va., and trains in Reston, wasn't about to miss this – especially when she found out the cast included so many U.S., World and Olympic skaters.
“I was just spellbound,” said Willoughby, who was sitting with her parents, Betsy and Paul, and grandmother Sheila Rosenthal (who came down from Long Island) moments after the show. “I got to meet a lot of the skaters. Dan Hollander was very, very nice, and Michael was a lot of fun. It was just great.”
Willoughby is just the kind of skater the show is meant to benefit. With approximately 1,000 people in attendance, Weiss raised about $30,000 for his foundation.
Before and after the show, a silent auction was held to help raise more money for the foundation. Auction items included everything from an ice skate autographed by Emily and Sarah Hughes to spa treatments. Last year, the first time Weiss organized the show, he raised $28,000.
Even though the show took place in a local rink, it featured enough marquee names to have been played in a large arena. The show's cast featured 10 Olympians and could have rivaled many of the professional tours.
Perhaps even more impressive is that all of the skaters donated their time to the Michael Weiss Foundation. And some of the skaters, like two-time U.S. pairs champions Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, flew in all the way from California to skate.
“We do this show because we're such great friends with Mike,” said Baldwin, who has known Weiss since 1987. “This isn't about money.”
Inoue and Baldwin have been busy with several benefit shows this summer, including one a week before the Weiss show in San Francisco. Now, Baldwin said, he and Inoue are going to be in full training mode for the upcoming competitive season. The duo that made history by becoming the first pairs team to land a throw triple Axel in competition will compete in its first Grand Prix of the 2006-07 season at Skate America, Oct. 26-29 in Hartford, Conn.
“We're excited to get back to the competitive aspect,” Baldwin said. “You'll absolutely see the triple Axel, but a quad throw will be later, not yet.”
At SkateQuest, however, the skaters weren't too concerned about triples and quads. The focus was on having fun and entertaining the fans – about 200 of whom were sitting right on the ice. There were stands on one side of the rink, so Weiss decided to add the on-ice seats this year.
If any of the skaters waited too long to enter a jump, they would have landed in a fan's lap.
Weiss, for one, used the on-ice seating as part of his choreography. At one point, during his ‘70s disco number, he sprayed a delighted fan with ice.
The afternoon began with Willoughby, who was billed in the program as “Only 10 years old – 2014 Olympic hopeful!” She was followed by Armin Mahbanoozadeh, the novice men's winner at last month's North American Challenge Skate in Pittsburgh and a Michael Weiss Foundation award winner, Ashley Deavers and Amanda Loyd.
Then came the heavy hitters. Christine Zukowski, the 2006 World Junior bronze medalist and a former Michael Weiss Foundation recipient, got the crowd going with her rendition of the Go-Go's hit “Our Lips Are Sealed.”
Zukowski, who was born in 1989, admitted she didn't have much memory of the 1980s pop hit.
“I was looking for a song on my iPod that was 2:37 seconds and I found it,” said Theresa Zukowski, Christine's mom. “It was perfect.”
Zukowski, who placed sixth at the 2006 State Farm U.S. Championships, will make her senior Grand Prix debut this season in Paris at Trophe Eric Bompard. She was followed by 2005 World Junior ice dancing champions Morgan Matthews & Max Zavozin, who train in nearby Ashburn, Va.
Silvia Fontana, a two-time Olympian and five-time Italian champion was next. Introduced as “The Italian Goddess,” she got the crowd going with a Latin dance number. Midway through her routine, the music stopped. She tried to skate a little more in hopes that the music would come back on, but then paused.
Later in the show, she was re-introduced and finished her routine, playing up to the cheering crowd.
Dan Hollander, a two-time U.S. bronze medalist who has made a professional career by entertaining crowds with his humorous routines, had the crowd roaring when he stepped out next wearing a nun's habit. “Sister Mary Hollander” later was transformed into “Lady In A Blue Dress,” complete with a wig and royal blue sequins.
Watching Hollander rinkside and waiting to skate her routine, 2006 Olympian Emily Hughes couldn't help but laugh. “I have to follow this?” she asked.
Hughes did exactly that. Wearing a black and silver unitard, Hughes skated to Tina Turner's “Proud Mary.” She performed a Charlotte into a layback spin, a move which she hopes to include in her programs this year.
“I'm trying to make it faster and more impressive,” she said.
The show continued with elegant performances by Inoue and Baldwin, five-time U.S. ice dancing champions Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge and three-time U.S. pairs champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman.
“It was fun,” said Eldredge, who skated a new program to a song by Blake Shelton called “Goodbye Time.” “We were all in the same situation those kids were in, needing help paying for training expenses. Now we've all been more fortunate with touring and money-making endeavors.”
Eldredge knows all too well how difficult it is to keep up with skating expenses. The son of a fisherman, Eldredge's family made many sacrifices over the years, and even his hometown of Chatham, Mass., held fundraisers to keep his skating career afloat.
Although Eldredge and Weiss were on-ice competitors for years, they maintained a strong friendship off the ice. Eldredge even helped Weiss prepare for the 2006 U.S. Championships. This year, both will skate in Stars on Ice and will appear together in a few nationally televised shows.
“It's kind of funny, because most of the time all the rivalries you see in the media are just that – media driven,” Eldredge said. “When we would go out on the ice we'd want to skate our best. But in the locker room afterward, we'd joke around.”
Weiss did most of the joking around when it was his turn to skate. Sporting an afro wig and groovy sunglasses, Weiss hammed it up for the crowd with triple Lutzes, fast spins and boogie dancing. Right after his routine, he grabbed the microphone, and even though he was half out of breath, he thanked the crowd and the skaters.
In the finale, he performed his trademark spread eagle on his heels and a back flip.
“I still love skating,” said Weiss, who retired from competitive skating at the end of last season. “And I still love performing. This is fun because it was for a great cause, too.”
By LOIS ELFMAN
Michael Weiss:
"I had six months of relaxing. Now, this fall and winter are going to be busier than I've ever been in my entire life," said Weiss, who was by no means idle during the downtime. He has continued to practice and workout and he has put considerable energy into preparing for the second annual
fundraiser for the Michael Weiss Foundation, which will take place at Skatequest of Reston on Sept. 9.
"When I was younger, it was a big struggle for my parents to put two skaters through figure skating," said Weiss, 30, whose older sister Geremi was also a national competitor. "It's like that with a lot of families. Now that I'M in a position where I can enlist my friends and myself to help raise money,
I give back."
In 2004 he and Lisa created the Michael Weiss Foundation, which gives training grants to deserving young skaters. One of the first recipients was Christine Zukowski, who this year will be among the show's headliners. She finished sixth in the senior women's competition at the 2006 U.S. Championships and won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.
"She needed some help with training expenses," Weiss recalled. "It's nice to see her be successful now."
Other skaters joining Weiss for the Sept. 9 performance - all of whom are donating their time - will be six-time U.S. Men's Champion, 1996 World Champion and three-time Olympian Todd Eldredge, U.S. Women's bronze medalist and 2006 Olympian Emily Hughes, three-time U.S. Pair Champions and 2002 Olympians Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman, five-time U.S. Ice Dance Champions and 2002 Olympians Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev, two-time U.S. Pair Champions, 2006 Olympians and the only pair to perform the throw triple axel in competition Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, Italian Women's Champion and two-time Olympian Silvia Fontana and 2005 World Junior Ice Dance Champions and U.S. pewter medalists Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin, who live and train in Ashburn.
"Everybody will stay at our house," said Weiss. "We'll all go out and have a good time and we'll raise money for the foundation. It's cool to see everybody willing to do that. Over the years, I've been able to establish some good friendships in the sport."
