.jpg)
Club History
The Full Story
The Wisconsin Figure Skating Club has a history that reaches back more than 80 years. The organization began in 1942 as the Wauwatosa Figure Skating Club, skating at the Miller Building in Hart Park in Wauwatosa. At that time, the club shared a facility with the curling club and skated on a relatively small sheet of curling ice. Although the facilities were modest, the club developed a strong skating community and produced competitive skaters who represented the club at high levels of the sport.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the club developed a particularly strong singles and dance program. The club produced a World Team member in the early 1950s. Caryl Johns and her partner Jack Jost competed at the World Championships in 1952. They finished 8th. Raymond Bloomer competed at the US Nationals in 1955 and finished 5th. These early achievements demonstrate that competitive success has been part of the club's identity for many decades.
As the club grew, the limitations of the Hart Park facility became increasingly apparent; in 1972, the club moved to the Fairgrounds rink. The move provided significantly more skating space and gave the club greater control over its facility.
In 1976, Red, White and Blades, the club's annual ice show, began to grow into an important tradition. Lynn Paulsen began the show and described how it flourished with extensive use of lighting and other production elements to create a large skating show. Lynn Paulsen and John Sorkin established the club's precision program, which became Wisconsin Edge in 1985.
The Wisconsin Figure Skating Club became nationally competitive in precision skating. At one point, its intermediate team placed second in the country at the U.S. national level. The club also fielded intermediate and junior teams.
In recent years, synchronized skating has again become an important part of the Wisconsin Figure Skating Club. The club has expanded the number of teams it offers from Aspire 1 to Intermediate, under the leadership of Elena Rodrigues. This growth has expanded the club's membership and strengthened its community.
The club has continued to evolve as figure skating itself has changed. One important recent development has been the growth of solo dance. The emergence of solo dance as a competitive discipline has created new opportunities for club skaters, including national-level success. Having a national champion within the club represents another chapter in its long history of competitive achievement.
Solo Dance and Adult skating have become one of the club's major strengths. Adult skaters bring experience, continuity, enthusiasm, and long-term participation to the club. For many, adult skating provides an opportunity to return to a sport they enjoyed earlier in life.
Skate Milwaukee was started by WFSC in 2005. When the event began approximately two decades ago
Today, the Wisconsin Figure Skating Club occupies a distinctive position. Its home at the Pettit National Ice Center places it alongside speed skaters, hockey players, recreational skaters, and Olympic-level athletes. Rather than viewing these sports as separate communities, club leaders increasingly see opportunities to strengthen partnerships among the different organizations that share the facility.
National competitors
Emily Dulde - 1993 Senior Ladies
Kenzie Reid and Christian Erwin - 2013 Junior Dance
Meredith Kent and Palmer Middlekauff - 2013 Juvenile Dance, 2014 Juvenile Dance
Midwestern Sectional competitors
Emily Dulde - 1993 Senior Ladies Silver Medalist
Stephanie Hargraves - 1994 Novice Ladies, 1995 Novice Ladies
Kristin Bednar - 1995 Novice Ladies
Samantha Puhl - 2015 Senior Ladies
George Palabrica-Shorce - 2018 Novice Men
Lily Miller - 2018 Junior Ladies, 2019 Senior Ladies
Emily Soto - 2018 Junior Ladies
Henry Palabrica-Shorce- 2020 Novice Men
Matthew Lin - 2020 Juvenile Boys
Junior National competitors
Kenzie Reid and Christian Erwin 2007 Juvenile Dance, 2008 Intermediate Dance
High Performance Camp Qualifier
Matthew Lin 2020, 2021, 2022