PAGEANTRY IN MOTION

Christmas on Skates comes to Lorain from Brookpark Skate Club after fire at rink

An annual Northeast Ohio holiday tradition, Christmas on Skates, will go on as planned thanks to the generosity of a Lorain business.

On Sept. 19, the historic Brookpark Skateland was severely damaged by an overnight fire, leaving the rink’s competitive skaters without a home.

Coach Mary Nendza has mentored competitive roller skaters for the past 33 years and had called Brookpark Skateland home for half a century.

When Lorain Skate World heard about Nendza’s dilemma, she was welcomed to the International City to put on the holiday spectacular.

“It was so sad because I’ve skated or taught out of that rink for 50 years. For me, it was home.”

— Coach Mary Nendza on a fire at Brookpark Skateland

The show will feature 60 skaters from across Northeast Ohio and 23 different numbers ranging from solo acts to finely choreographed productions.

Nendza received a phone call from Alice Carter, owner of Lorain Skate Land, 4952 W. Erie Ave., offering the space to train and prepare.

“So when I came, she said, ‘You always have a Christmas show. Do you want to do it here?’ ” Nendza recalled. “I had started, but then I kind of thought, oh, but I have no place to do it.”

Brookpark Skateland

had extensive fire damage, she said.

“And they have not started yet to rebuild it,” Nendza said. “So, we’re probably looking at another year.

“It was devastating. I’d never seen a fire up close before. The ceiling was gone, the roof had big holes, the floor was destroyed because the water warped it. Our organ booth was gone.”

Nendza recalled being at the rink the night before the fire and then getting the call the following morning that it had gone up in flames.

“It was so sad because I’ve skated or taught out of that rink for 50 years,” she said. “For me, it was home.

“But they’ve been so nice here. They just opened their

doors and let us in, and it’s just like we’ve been here all along.”

The show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20, will be the ninth year of the show, which began out of desire to keep skaters fresh during a downtime in competition.

“This is kind of like more of our downtime for competitions,” Nendza said. “Our major competitions are in June, July and August.

“So to keep the kids interested, I decided to start the show. And it just kept growing and growing and growing.

“We started out with not many people, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger. And I did it because the kids love it. It’s more for the kids, plus all of the people loved it.”

Out of the 60 skaters, about 30 have competed at USA Roller Sports Roller Figure Skating National Championships and a small handful competed at the world championships, representing the United States in Australia, Italy, Germany and Spain.

The show is true work of art encompassing 120 different costumes, a plethora of scenery and encompassing the athleticism and artistry from these talented skaters, Nendza said.

At a Dec. 3 practice, the skaters displayed spectacular and quintessential spins, lifts and jumps.

KEVIN MARTIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Skaters from the Brookpark Skate Club prepare for Christmas on Skates at Lorain Skate World on Dec. 3. After their home rink, Brookpark Skate Land, was damaged in a fire in September, a group of 60 competitive roller skaters were welcomed to Lorain Skate World to put on their annual holiday show. From left: Sarah Delvallie, Paul Holbrook, Sarah Massey, and Emily Clark.