Skating club hopes to add members

September 19, 1998|By RICHARD F. BELISLE

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The fledgling Doris I. Billow Figure Skating Club has produced its first champion. Six-year-old Brooke Krocker of Hagerstown won a silver medal this month for placing second in the tot's division in the Chesapeake Open Freestyle Competition in Baltimore.

One day, said Margy Everett, Krocker's coach and a member of the club's board of directors, an Olympic skater may get his or her start at the Doris I. Billow Ice Arena in Zullinger, Pa., the club's home rink.

Everett served as interim general manager of the rink from October to April.

Krocker's mother, Crystal Krocker, said her daughter loves to skate.

"The club is for everyone who likes to skate and Brooke can stay in it as long as she wants. It's her choice," she said.

Everett said the club was chartered in January and now has about 30 members, including 10 skaters ranging in age from tots to teens, and their parents. She's hoping to see it grow to 75 to 100 members by the end of the year, she said.

"We want to develop sport figure skating in this area but we need to increase our membership so we can rent ice time for different age and skill groups," Everett said.

The rink rents for $160 an hour to clubs and groups.

Jane Meyers, rink general manager, said the figure skating club easily could recruit 100 members by the end of the year. The Cumberland Valley Hockey Association, which also skates at the rink, has close to 100 members on five teams, Meyers said.

She said some figure skating clubs have up to 150 members, including serious competitors and those who skate for fun.

The local rink has five skating coaches, including Everett, who are paid to teach classes there. They also offer individual private lessons on their own time.

Meyers ran a city rink in Wisconsin for nine years before she was hired here in June.

The club will provide lessons at all levels. It is recognized by the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Olympic skaters must be sanctioned by the association, Everett said.

The club held an open house at the rink on Saturday.

Individual memberships cost $35 a year. Family memberships, which are cheaper per person, also are available. Applications are available at the rink.

The $3 million rink opened on Pa. 16 in Zullinger, about three miles east of Waynesboro, in December. Doris I. Billow, an area school teacher, left $500,000 in her will to get the rink started. The state put up $250,000 and the rest of the cost is coming from donations and loans.

The rink will be officially dedicated in December, Meyers said.

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