By: Debbi Wilkes Synchronized Skating hadn’t even been ‘born’ when Joanne Shaw was growing up in Wallaceburg, a small town in southwestern Ontario between Chatham and Sarnia. [caption id="attachment_175495" align="alignright" width="500"] Joanne Shaw (right) and former KWSC Technical Director Pat...

George and Gladys Wilson brought up their family, young David and much older siblings Norman and Kathy, in Nobleton, a small town north of Toronto at the crossroads of Hwy 27 and King Rd. Their home was in a small...

The Lawrence Park tennis courts in Toronto, flooded over in the winter, became the ice rink where Joyce Hisey learned to skate. She would walk over into the valley with her Mom and play on the ice with other little...

By: Debbi Wilkes World Champion Elvis Stojko fell in love with skating long before his feet were big enough to fit into a pair of skates. Born in Newmarket and living with his family on a farm in Queensville just...

By: Debbi Wilkes For former national and international men’s competitor and retired World and Olympic Coach Louis Stong, skating was not top-of-mind for him as a young hyper active boy cavorting around his grand parents’ farmhouse in Elgin Mills near...

“The very first time I went skating as a child, it was outdoors on a pond … and I fell and broke my elbow,” not a promising beginning for future Canadian champion Lynn Nightingale. Lynn was born in Edmonton but...

By: Debbi Wilkes The official village of Swansea has now been gobbled up by Toronto but when Ann Martin, now Ann Shaw, was growing up, she’d walk on her skates (no guards!) to the outdoor rink in the valley. The...

By: Debbi Wilkes World and Olympic Ice Dance Coach Marijane Stong (nee Lennie) started skating because her mother had always wanted to skate. [caption id="attachment_115342" align="alignleft" width="318"] Photo Credit: Skate Canada[/caption] When her Mom was a young girl, the family...

Over the course of the next season I hope you’ll join me once a month to welcome home some of Skate Ontario’s most accomplished individuals to discover their early stories and learn how their skating journeys began. Whether a retired...