Former Champion Skaters Flock to 30th 'Evening'

This weekend, Olympic and world figure skating champions will return to Bright Hockey Center for a special 30th anniversary performance of An Evening with Champions (EWC).

The non-profit organization, run by the students of Eliot House, sends its proceeds to the Jimmy Fund, a branch of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute founded in 1948 to support efforts to eradicate cancer. The fund-raiser has raised over $2 million since it was first held in 1969.

The event will be hosted once again by Olympic medalist Paul Wylie '90-'91, who has been involved with EWC for the past 16 years. He is retired from skating and currently attending Harvard Business School but will be performing in the opening number and the finale.

Many of this year's skaters have performed for EWC before. 1999 U.S. Silver Medalist Naomi Nari Nam, a rising American star, has skated for EWC for two years, and 1998 U.S. Junior Pairs Champions Tiffany and Johnnie Stigler have performed twice before.

Two-time U.S. Bronze medalist Dan Hollander skated at EWC in 1996.

"He did a backflip over three of our co-chairs last time," said Public Relations Director Tracy F. Coogan '01.

Also returning, for their 11th performance with EWC, are 1964 and 1968 Olympic Gold medalists Ludmina and Oleg Protopopov. The two are married and have been skating together for 45 years.

Skaters new to EWC this year will include 1998 World Silver Medalist Irina Slutskaya, 1992 Olympic Bronze medalist Peter Barna and 1998 World Professional Dance Champions Maya Usova and Evgeny Platov.

The show will also feature local skaters, such as eight-year-old Kelly O'Grady, who has been performing for EWC since she was two (the youngest skater ever in the exhibition), and Eliot House skaters Joseph P. Di Pasquale '01 and Lori H. Sonderegger '00.

The organizers of the fund-raiser have been busily planning since early spring.

"You begin planning the minute you're appointed, which is usually in February but was not until March this year," said EWC Co-Chair Gisela I. Mohring '00.

Mohring said they immediately begin contacting skaters and lining up corporate sponsors. Co-chairs stay in Cambridge for the summer to organize, and planning for the next year's show begins as soon as the last one is over.

Mohring said she is especially excited about the alumni dinner this Saturday, hosted by founder John Misha Petkevich '71-73, at which the co-chairs will be meeting past skaters and coaches who have come to Cambridge for the anniversary performance.

Many former co-chairs have also returned to see how EWC has changed, and there is a breakfast planned for the returning co-chairs to meet the skaters over donated Dunkin' Donuts. Tours of the Boston Aquarium and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum have also been organized for this special weekend.

There will also be a party before the Saturday matinee performance for children with cancer who have benefited from the Jimmy Fund.

An Evening with Champions will be taking place Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and at 8 p.m. at Bright Hockey Center. Tickets are still available (493-8172) for all three shows and cost $10 for undergraduates.