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North pole comes to Bellingham

The only thing inspiring Christmas spirit more than watching The Polar Express  is witnessing figure skaters reenact the tale.

The Bellingham Sportsplex, a recreation center for soccer, hockey and skating, is hosting the Bellingham Figure Skating Club’s annual Christmas-themed ice skating show “The North Pole Express,” on Friday, Dec. 9, and Saturday, Dec. 10.

The Bellingham Figure Skating Club, the Sportsplex Skating Academy, and Western’s Figure Skating Club all participate in the production.

“Not all colleges have the logistics for an ice arena, so it’s awesome the sportsplex can offer that to both Western’s figure skating club and hockey team.”

Keri Ferguson

The clubs generally practice twice a week and began working on the winter show over two months ago, according to Sportsplex Skating Academy Director Keri Ferguson.

The show pairs dancing with figure skating and is the largest annual fundraiser for the club, according to Ferguson.

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The skate rink at the Bellingham Sportsplex is used for hockey and figure skating. Photo taken on Wednesday, Nov. 9. // Photo by Morgan Stilp-Allen

Senior Megan Gezelius, president of Western’s figure skating club, said this is the second year the club has been included in the show. The club is assigned a piece of music and then expected to choreograph a routine.

“Here in Bellingham people care a lot about hockey, so it’s cool to be able to see that people are interested in figure skating,” Gezelius said. “We can get the community to come out to see that we’re all working on this show together.”

The Bellingham Sportsplex offers a variety of other activities and events for community members of all ages to pursue.

“The Sportsplex gives both adults and youth a place to play sports they love like soccer, figure skating and ice hockey,” said Marc Ronney, general manager of the Bellingham Sportsplex. Ferguson said the club is fortunate to have a place like the Bellingham Sportsplex to perform.

“Not all colleges have the logistics for an ice arena, so it’s awesome the sportsplex can offer that to both Western’s figure skating club and hockey team,” Ferguson said. “It’s really important for the kids that have had the sense of family and community in their rinks and home clubs to be able to bring that collectively to Western and into our show.”

Alyssa Jackson, the Bellingham Sportsplex front office manager, said it’s important to put on productions to show people the significance of the recreation center.


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