No consultations for Tonya film

There’s a bio-movie now being filmed on the story of disgraced American Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding who in 1994, pleaded guilty to conspiring to block prosecution and avoided imprisonment although she was sentenced to perform 500 hours of community service and pay a $160,000 for her involvement in the savage attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan.

Harding, now 46, was banned for life by the US Skating Association. Her former husband Jeff Gillooly, her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt, hitman Shane Stant and get-away driver Derrick Smith cornered Kerrigan after practice at the Cobo Arena in Detroit. Stant whacked Kerrigan’s right leg with a telescopic baton in an attempt to maim and incapacitate her from competing at the coming Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Miraculously, Kerrigan escaped serious injury with no broken leg.

Harding and Kerrigan both made it to Lillehammer but neither took the gold. Kerrigan settled for the silver while Harding finished a poor eighth. The four men who assaulted Kerrigan were convicted to serve prison terms. Harding later became a pro wrestler, a mixed martial arts fighter and a pro boxer with no success. In 2011, she gave birth to a son. Harding has been married thrice.

According to Kerrigan, she was never consulted on the movie “I, Tonya” which stars Australian actress Margot Robbie as Harding. Neither was Kathy Peterson who delivered the evidence to pin Harding down before a Grand Jury. The movie is centered on Harding’s rivalry with Kerrigan and how she was implicated in the attack. Kerrigan said she won’t bother to watch the film which is slated for release next year. Kathy said she found it strange that no one from the movie project has approached her to shed light on how she came up with the proof to lock down Harding. “I understand they’re filming the movie now so I imagine the script is done,” said Kathy. “I don’t know if the movie will stick to the facts or will be fictionalized. I’m wondering how it’ll turn out.”

** * * Kathy and her husband Terry were in Manila last year for a vacation. They went to Boracay, Batangas and Palawan and enjoyed their visit. Since they own and operate the popular Dockside Saloon and Restaurant in downtown Portland, the Petersons are always on the lookout to enhance their menu and fell in love with Filipino food during their trip. A particular favorite was tocino with egg and garlic fried rice.

It was Kathy who found pieces of evidence linking Harding to the assault in the 6x6 foot dumpster beside their restaurant. Apparently, someone tried to dispose of the evidence by passing it off as garbage. Kathy makes it a habit to check if there is “foreign” stuff in the dumpster. “When I find garbage that isn’t ours, I check for clues that could lead to who threw it and I take the garbage back to where it came from,” she said. What she discovered were a train receipt to Detroit, a receipt from the National Skating Association made out to Harding and an envelope with scribbled notes of Kerrigan’s practice schedule at the Tony Kent Arena in Massachusetts. Kerrigan was eventually tracked down at the Cobo Arena. Kathy turned over the evidence to the FBI.

Kathy testified before the Grand Jury and had several meetings with the District Attorney. She was in the swirl of the media frenzy that accompanied the Kerrigan assault and gave out at least 60 interviews. TV crews and reporters from all over the US and the world turned Kathy into an overnight celebrity.

“The most damaging paper that was found was an envelope with information on Nancy’s practice schedule at her home rink, the Tony Kent Arena,” said Kathy. “The handwriting was found to be Tonya’s. She had earlier denied any involvement in the whole affair but the garbage proved otherwise. We think Tonya and her cohorts came upon our dumpster and thought they could save themselves a trip to the transfer station which is located about five miles from us. Who would have thought that the Dockside would be in the middle of such a notorious scandal? We joke that we’re best known for our garbage but we think our food is pretty darned good.”

The other day, my wife Menchu and I met up with Kathy at the Dockside. We were with our Portland host Dolly Pangan Specht, Menchu’s brother Robert and wife Menchu, Menchu’s sister Vicky and Menchu’s cousin Tess Xerez-Burgos Loanzon.

** * * The Petersons bought the Dockside in 1986 from the owners who put it up in 1925. At least six movies, including “The Hunted” and “Maverick,” have featured scenes filmed at the restaurant where there are eight TVs, showing sports. The Dockside is open 24/7 with the all-day breakfast a best seller. The breakfast crowd on weekends is a constant overflow.