Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club - The Land of Make Believe

Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Friday, March 14th, 2025.

Have your host James J. Mailoff here, and we're welcoming to the studio right now, Friends of ours from the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club.

We do want to send a shout out to our good friend Meredith and everybody over at the Visit Wisconsin Rapids Bureau,

giving us this time to hang out with our figure skaters and talk a little bit about this amazing show that they have coming up tomorrow.

I want to let you guys introduce yourself so the audience can put a voice to the name. We'll start right there.

Hi, my name is Dara Ham. I am the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skate Club Learned Escape Director.

Dara, thank you very much for being here. It's great to meet you.

Sure. I am Peyton Ham, a skater of the club.

Excellent. Peyton, thank you for being here.

Hi, I'm Brendan, and I've been skating with the club for about six or seven years now.

Thanks for being here, Brendan. Appreciate the time you guys.

Thanks so much for being here, all of you. I'm looking forward to diving into the show and finding a little bit more about the Figure Skating Club.

As a journalist, I do need to mention, there will be no journalistic integrity with this interview.

Growing up, I was in a pair of skates when I was five years old. My father was a hockey player.

I love skating. Him and I, the rest of our lives will be glued to the Winter Olympics and watching Figure Skating and hockey and all of it.

I'm a big fan of skating, and I think that it's one of those universal things, and no matter where you grow up, where you live, who you are, getting a pair of skates on a kid at young age, has nothing but positives to it.

Along with some of the stuff that we're going to talk about today.

I start there, but Dara, I do want to dive into the club itself a little bit if you don't mind.

Can you tell us a little bit how long the club has been around the Wisconsin-Rabbit Figure Skating Club?

The club started back in 1997. It's been around for a number of years.

The club itself has grown over those years, where we've started about 15 years ago doing the ice shell like we're doing this coming weekend.

It grows from learned skate levels all the way up to private coaching and competitions along with the ice shell that they put on every year.

There's a lot of various aspects of the club that's grown over time.

It's great to hear. Dara, when it came to making this club, to creating this and everything, we don't have to get too into the weeds in it, but was it difficult to you and some others? How did that start?

Like I said, it was created back in 1997, so that was actually a number of years ago before I did this.

It's something that's grown over time, I think, within hockey that started with things, but then there was also that aspect of need to grow from a figure skate level and do all aspects of skating.

So with our club, we not only do figure skating, but we also have a lot of hockey skaters in learned skate and learning to skate and do the fundamentals of things to build all of those areas.

My father, and I don't know if they do this still in hockey, it sounds like somewhat and certainly somewhat locally, but my father, his first hockey coach, had the team go out there in their first practice and figure skating skates.

So they would learn the difference of the skates and getting a little more control over their legs and their feet and some of that.

Figure skating and hockey are intertwined, not just because of the simpleness of ice and skating and everything, but so much of the training that goes into your favorite hockey players.

More than likely, they know something in figure skating or did a little work in figure skating or something like that.

Some of the strongest human beings you will ever see are some of our Olympic figure skaters, just their amazing athletes.

And it's really fun to talk about that in general, but on a local level, like I'm really enjoying that.

I really enjoy what's happening with this club and the growth of this club and certainly what it means for our kids and the sport in itself.

When it comes to the club, the future of the club, how are you seeing that? Are you seeing more and more members? Is that staying healthy?

Yeah, absolutely. I, as a Learn to Skate director, actually kind of welcome the new young skaters in.

So we have many young skaters as young as three that are joining the club.

I think that actually this is coming spring. We have a new Learn to Skate session.

And right now, I have about 20 Learn to Skate Snowplow Sam 1, which is our very first level.

So we have a lot of young skaters that are joining in. This year, our levels for our numbers for skaters have increased from what they've been for the last couple of years.

And I've kind of seen that trend over the last two to three years here.

That's so encouraging here. I was hoping to hear that. That's really good to hear.

And fun for people out there. And we're going to tell you a little bit more later how you can get involved in the club.

But I do want to have people keep that in mind as we're having this conversation.

So Dara, for you, though, how did you get involved with this club? What made you want to be a part of the Figure Skating Club?

Right. Actually, kind of fun fact. I was in the Learn to Skate back in probably 97, 98. I took a couple of classes.

It didn't stick with it very long, but I grew up ice skating. I was out on the rec center, ice skating fields, just having fun.

So that was kind of a past time of mine. When my daughter was younger, it was something something came home from the mail or in the mail or school.

And hey, you want to try it? Let's do it. And knowing that I grew up skating and having fun doing that, she's kind of jumped in that same boat.

Peyton, I was the same way with my dad. Yeah, I hear you. And let's go to Peyton here. Peyton, same kind of question for you.

So your mom told us a little bit about how you got involved. But what made you what sparked in you that you're like, OK, I do want to try this because you guys at your age, you're getting a lot of stuff like, hey, do you want to try this? Do you want to try that? What was it about this that made you want to try it?

I don't know. I just got stuck with it. And I don't know. I just tried a bunch of different sports. And that was the only one that I actually liked.

Yeah, there's really not a lot of rhyme and reason. What makes us like something? We just know we do. You know, that's cool. That's good to hear. And for you, Brendan, what was it about you that got you involved in the club?

Honestly, I'm going to have to go with like the ice shows because I went to the ice shows when I was a little kid. And I really like went to them and I was like, wow, this is something that I really want to be in. And now I can actually do that.

So I really think that I show really boosted my confidence in why I wanted to do stuff like that and perform.

Right on. You know, you said something there that I think is really key to this conversation and important, the confidence, the building of that.

You know, Dara, we don't know necessarily that there's no necessarily a playbook of how am I going to build up a kid?

How am I going to build up their confidence? How am I going to help them feel stronger as a human being?

And one of the major roles of us as adults is to do that. And I don't know that anybody necessarily has a blueprint on how to.

So when we find things that interest kids and that they do take a liking to or something, support and encouragement, cost nothing, mean everything and being able to do that.

Not just in only meeting two of the individuals from the club, I already see that in these guys. And that's really cool.

Having fun out there, enjoying figure skating, whatever you do with it going forward is important.

But one thing we can guarantee is that whatever you do in life could use a boost of confidence, could use a little bit of believing in yourselves.

And that's a big part of figure skating. That's a big part of skating in general.

When you think about this to those that haven't skated before, the size of the length of a skate and the width of a skate.

And the idea that a human being can stand on that is just baffling to science in general.

Let alone all the things a figure skater can do or a hockey skater just a skater can do.

When you see that you can pull that off, we've normalized it, but it is no small feat to be able to get comfortable on a pair of skates.

I've got really bad ankles, man. I can't go out there anymore. It's been a long time since I've been able to skate.

But I'm a little jealous of you, Dara, in some ways, because to see Peyton the first time getting on those skates and there's nothing like that to see a young person have the confidence to try this.

I'm not even saying just actually accomplishing it, but just to even give this sport a try, you have to be brave to do.

Let alone to actually pull it off and have some fun out there. I am very impressed by both of you and all these kids are part of this club. It's really cool.

When it comes to the show itself, let's dive into that right now. I'm talking about the land of Make Believe.

The Wigs Wisconsin Fair Rapids Figure Skating Club show that is going to be coming up tomorrow, March 15th, one o'clock show and a seven o'clock show.

And then Sunday, the level one o'clock matinee for you. All these shows will take place at our Southwood County Rec Center. You can get tickets there as well.

What can you tell us about the show, Dara?

Our show has been put together over the last two weeks. So if you have the opportunity to come, which we all would encourage people to come watch these kids, they've worked hard over the last two weeks.

Each one of them has at least one show their program that they are putting on and it is really a way for them to show all of the skills that they've learned.

Not only this past year, but as the seniors and the older kids have been in it for a number of years, what they've learned through the out their career on the ice.

So it's really an opportunity for them to show off everything that they've done. But keep in mind as you're watching it, this was put together in two weeks.

They didn't start choreographing or working at any of these things. And I'm in awe every time I watch them to see just how much you guys do in a short period of time and how the whole ice rink is transformed into really the land of make believe.

Yeah, well said.

Once again, no journals, integrity you guys. I mentioned I was about five or six when I had my first pair of skates on. I've been acting since I was seven. I love theater. I love any type of theater, any type of acting.

And here we've got two of my favorite things just being combined. So there's just no way I can be having any integrity with this interview. I love you guys. I love what you guys are doing. It's awesome.

For you both, what was one of your favorite parts about this production, about putting this together, about your partner? Now a patent, what is your favorite part of the show?

Well, I think maybe getting to put it on and see people's reactions.

Yeah, that's a great one. That's great response. Great answer. And Brendan, how about for you?

So I actually had the opportunity to choreograph a number this year. So it's really exciting because some of these kids is going to be their first time ever going on the ice and performing in front of people.

And I'm letting them use props and they're really excited to use those props. And I'm really excited to have them showcase in front of everyone for the first time.

So Brendan, I'm seeing here that you're a senior near 17 years old. That's not fair.

You shouldn't be this talented already as an entertainer. I'm not sure how I feel about that. That's awesome. And that's really cool.

What did it feel like choreographing it? How did that go? And how long did it take you to do that?

So we had three practices last week. And then we had three this week. And last week I just did a couple of omens with them to see how they can do it.

And I basically just kind of put it together so they all can do the same thing. And then basically throughout this week I added the props and had them use those props.

And actually, they got together really well. Honestly, I wasn't able to do it in two weeks when I first started show. But as this young, at this young up in age, they're doing really well. And yesterday I ran through it. I didn't even need to help them. They could do it all by themselves. So I'm really excited for them.

But two weeks to put a production together is crazy. In theater, you just never see that kind of thing. That's very impressive that you guys are doing that. And to hear the turnout of that, that's really cool to hear.

And a credit to the coaches and to you yourself too, man, because putting the routine together so that they could get it. And it still be entertaining. That's not an easy balance to do all the time. So nice job.

And then I do have to ask, your last name is pond. Did you feel like you had to get involved with skating in some way or some kind of water based. I'm joking. I'm just kidding. It's a bad joke. I apologize. But I did want to make you laugh a little bit. I can't help that.

When it comes to the rehearsal time on the show, how often did they get to rehearse and how long did they get to rehearse?

So each program that a child is in or a skater is in, they have three rehearsals each week. Each rehearsal is a half hour. So an hour and a half.

One week and an hour and a half the next week. It's not a lot of time at all. And they do an amazing job. We have great coaches, great leaders that help these little kids and have learned a lot.

If people want tickets, they can get them right there the day of at the front desk and everything. I imagine similar to getting River King's tickets when you go there and everything and pick them up the day of at the show.

So keep that in mind. And as we always like to remind you to buy local support local and that includes the arts and our nonprofits and everything everybody.

It means the world to these kids to be able to see familiar faces as well as just community members in that crowd and cheering them on and enjoying an amazing show.

And when you do this, keep in mind if you're bringing your little ones and we do encourage you to bring your little ones to this, they may want to be involved in this club.

Ice skating is contagious in all the best of ways. It's very few people that put on a pair of skates and give it a shot and don't continue with it.

Especially when you're young, you talked any, listen to any interview with any hockey player from the dawn of hockey to now and they'll tell you I was about five or six when I put on a pair of skates.

If you want kids to get involved with this, it's a great thing to do when they're young and and to really to hit on when they're young.

And Darra, I would like to talk a little bit about getting involved in the club and how people can do that.

There's any parents out there listening or kids hearing this. And like, oh, this sounds pretty cool. I want to be a part of this.

Is there a way they can learn more or find out or be a part of the club?

Absolutely. We have our Facebook page, which is the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skate Club page, as well as our website.

So WRFC is a great way to search and pull up the website. There's a ton of information on there from our Learned Escape Information, our I Show Information.

Like I said, we offer private coaching and private lessons, so there's a ways to build.

But we start kids as young as three years old. So if parents are interested in just getting their kids out to do something, so they're not sitting in front of a TV or on their phones and tablets.

I know that's the big thing that we always are like, let's try to limit that and get the kids out doing things.

Our goal is to have the kids learn things and have fun doing so.

So parents can also be there to watch. There's plenty of other things parents can do.

Really, the I Show is the biggest time where parents are getting involved, but it's so fun to watch that.

During the school year or throughout the other course of the year, we offered various camps that parents are able to volunteer and help with as well.

It just depends on what level your kids are at and how much involvement you want to do, but the sky's the limit.

When it comes to, we focus a lot on the kids and rightfully so and everything, but if there's an adult out there listening and they've always wanted to learn to skate, would they be able to reach out about the learning to skate programs?

Absolutely. We've offered several adult classes. I think Brendan may even have coached some of those adults because we have offered a various number of coaches.

Some of that have been there for years coaching and then others that have been in the club and are now coaching themselves.

But we offer that definitely to adults, like I said, age three all the way up. So the sky's the limit really.

Thank you for that. And Brendan, I have to ask when it comes to, you know, your journey in this sport and now being your designing choreography for a show, you're coaching in some of that. How does that feel? How good does that feel to be able to do that?

It feels amazing because now that I'm able to coach, I know that I can do that in the future as well.

And when I was younger, I always looked up to my coaches and when I was younger, I always was like, hey, I want to coach too. So I'm glad I can do that now and now see like the kids and have them look up to their coaches too.

That's great, man. And good on you. And Peyton, thank you very much for being here today. Did an amazing job. Don't take my job, though. I really, I need this job, Peyton. So please don't get too good at this or anything, but you did a great job. Thanks for being here.

And Dara, I really do appreciate not only you being here and putting up on my questions and all that stuff, but what you are taking the time out of your day to do with this program and these kids.

It's, there's an investment in our future that happens with clubs like this that we can't put words to. There is no, no, you know, perfect phrase. I can say to thank you or show that we appreciate it and everything, but we really do.

And to the rest of your coaches and everybody else out there working at this program to all sponsors, volunteers, everybody a part of this. Thank you. Thank you for the work that you're doing with this one.

Also get used to being here because I want you guys back. You all did too good of a job. I want you guys to come back. So you know, get used to the trail. However route you took getting here, you're going to be taking it again.

And just one last time, Dara, to remind everybody that how they can get involved with the club or find out more about the club. Just send them to the website, the Facebook page.

Chris, the Facebook page or the website, either way, would be great opportunities to learn more.

And I always test this out for our audience. I just threw into my search bar was constantly figure skating club popped right up. First thing that popped up. So you'll be able to find it really easy. Everybody, be sure to bookmark their webpage, keep up the date on what they're doing and follow them on social media.

Be sure to share their posts on your pages. You just never know who might see these things that would otherwise really appreciate you guys and really appreciate the time. This is a lot of fun.

It's a real fun way to wrap up the week for us.

When I remind everybody again, you can see these kids in action. The Wisconsin Ravens Figure Skating Club presents the land of make believe tomorrow Saturday, March 15th, one o'clock show, seven o'clock show, and then on Sunday, the 11 o'clock show to wrap up everything.

Children and three and under are getting in for free $10 at the door $9 in advance. You can get those tickets at the South of County Rec Center at 2711 16th Street South right here in Wisconsin Rapids. Big shout out to all the sponsors and everybody else involved.

And keep in mind if you'd like to get involved volunteer or something like that. Again, reach out to them, especially on their Facebook page or something. I encourage you to do that.

Thanks again, you guys had a great time. Thank you for you guys have a great time with the show. Thank you.

I want to send a big shout out to Meredith Klekler and our friends at the visit Wisconsin Rapids Bureau who set up these interviews for us and give us a chance to talk to some of our fun clubs and nonprofits out there.

It was a great time to be thinking of Meredith. A lot of great things going on in the area this weekend. You can find out more by going to the visit Wisconsin.

Visit wisprapids.com and go to the visit Wisconsin Rapids Bureau's website like the winter farmers markets happening Saturday 9 to 1. Be sure to check that out. Everybody over at the Wisconsin Rapids Maravian Church.

Of course, on March 15th, the sugar bush event at the historic point boss, check that out. That's going to be a lot of fun.

On March 15th and 16th, land of make believe ice show going to be happening at the Wisconsin Rapids Figure Skating Club.

This will be taking place at the South of County Rec Center with our Figure Skating Club. Be sure to check that out.

Pete Ravel and four on the floor over at the Central Wisconsin Cultural Center, March 20th. That's going to be a great one. You want to check that out as well.

Keep in mind, we've been talking a lot about this. The music of Billy Joel and Elton John starring Michael Kavanaugh coming to the South of County Arts Council.

The pack, they're going to be performing on March 20th. We'll be giving away tickets on the morning show by the way for that. Be listening and get your tickets there.

March 22nd through April 13th, Nukusa Wall I days. Oh, it's finally here. We're so excited about this. One of our favorite events in the area.

That is right around the corner coming up. March 25th, US Army Field Band and Soldiers Course is going to be going on at the Arts Council at the Performing Arts Center.

We'll be talking with some members from that. I'm sure on our midday magazine right in this time slot. That's going to be coming up for you.

You've also got the Arts Coffee at the Central Wisconsin Cultural Center on March 27th. March 28th, they'll have a photography exhibit and open recreation at the Alexander House. Any chance you get to check that out.

And of course, there's our South of County Historical Museum that is always waiting for you and looking forward to having you come over and stop by.

Be sure to check that out. And again, find out about all of our great local events and different things going on in our area at visitwisrapids.com.

Be sure to bookmark that and follow them on social media. And next week on Midday Magazine, we're going to be having some fun. Not only will we have a ton of great guests for you, but on Monday's show in the four o'clock hour, we're going to be doing a spring candidate interviews.

We have our 2020 spring candidate interviews that we've been collecting these interviews, pre recording these. And we're going to play them all together for you.

We have Vito and Carla and Tim and Mark on Monday's episode. They are running for various positions like Town of Rome Supervisor. Those are all running for Town of World Supervisor or a town-rome chairperson.

So you'll be able to hear all of those together. And then on Tuesday, during community stories, hour, five to six, we'll be playing some other interviews that we have done with the Port Edward Village President nominees and Wisconsin Rabbit School Board nominees.

All those will be coming up for you and we will have not only all that coverage for you, but more certainly from Alyssa Kay and plenty of others keeping you up to date and everything you need for election day coming up next month.

Thank you all for joining us. Thank you to all of our guests throughout the week and a special thank you to the heart of WFHR Pam Hilke and the amazing scheduling she does week in a week out. We appreciate you Pam.

We'll have more for you next week right here at 97.5 FM 13.20 AM WFHR. We are locally growing radio.