Our Club

Wascana Winter Club

In 1934 it was decided to build a figure skating club and negotiations were opened with the Skate Regina which had been operating at the Stadium with a view of amalgamating the two clubs. These negotiations were successful and a $16,000 ring was built by Smith Bros. and Wilson, with Mr. Van Egmond as Architect. The name was changed from the Wascana Badminton Club to Wascana Winter Club. The club made steady progress and tremendous improvements were noticed in the quality of both the badminton and the skating.

Archives Board File 25 R-962

In the Carnival Program of 1948 the following article appeared: History of the Club

As far back as thirty-five years ago Sir Frederick Haultain sought to promote figure skating in Regina, but the sport had its early beginning about 1930 with the formation of the Regina Skating Club. Among the early enthusiasts at the time were Victor Sifton, Dr. Urban Gareau, Mrs. Gratton McCarthy, Mrs. J. Lorne MacDougall, Mrs. T.J. Haughton, Mrs. A.G.E. Robbins and others. With the amalgamation above the club became the Wascana Winter Club.

Mr. & Mrs. Fred Pohlman were the club professionals during this period until the 1940 season. Under their expert guidance the standard of skating rose rapidly so that in the 1939-40 season five Regina Skaters won silver medals. Of course there had been others, never before were there so many in one season. During this period the club turned out such outstanding skaters as William (Bill) Thomas, Chuck Lockwood, Dick Salter, Harold Westhauer, Alex Harnie, Struan Complin, Margie Mitchell, Elinor Martin, and Mrs. A.G.E. Robbins, some of whom became widely known professionals of their generation.

In October 1941, the clubhouse was turned over to the Department of National Defense and became H.M.C.S Queen, recruiting and training prairie men for the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. In this way the club made a substantial contribution to Canada’s war effort. The Wascana Winter Club is now back in the hands of its membership after making extensive alterations following Navy occupation and its doors are open to receiving memberships.
 
 Club Carnival Program 1948

One particular feature of the ice area were little partitions on the ice with doors where individual lessons were given in figures. Could it be that in essence this is how clubs of its day truly had "private lessons". Eventually these rooms were eliminated and as no seating was provided the elaborate and beautifully costumed Ice Shows were held at the Queen City Gardens.

All went very well for the club and skating improved and after those five silver medals mentioned previously, in 1942 William (Bill) Thomas won the Junior Mens' Canadian Championship and Charles Lockwood captured the Bronze. Bill joined the Navy and was discharged in 1942. With the introduction of the Prairie Section, the trip to Canadians became more difficult so the next Wascana Champion was Bryan Topping who proudly brought a Bronze Medal back to the Wascana Winter Club in 1962.

The club has provided many skaters of note who are now the professionals of today and many judges including our current international judge, Mrs. Margaret Sandison.

The saddest moment in the history of the Winter Club was March 5th 1974, when after a season of unusual snowfall, and just after a class had left the ice, the roof of the building collapsed. The professional of the day had stayed after class and suffered a leg injury. A settlement was arranged, but after much investigation and soul searching, it was decided not to rebuild. Four years later the Prairie Figure Skating Club and the Wascana Winter Club joined to return to the name "Regina Figure Skating Club".

The joining of the two clubs started with the Divisional Championships. At one time, the Wascana Winter Club was clearly the more prominent club. On the other hand, the Prairie Figure Skating Club provided lessons to everyone all over the city within and an extensive "learn to skate" program.

Of interest is the fact that Gelena Miller, of the Wascana Club, was one of the persons who assisted the Prairie Club in its formation. Carole Clark, their principal professional, now a Judge in Alberta, was a former Wascana skater.

Within the Divisional Committee, each side learned that the other side had the same problems, concerns and hopes for their skaters etc. and while the rivalry continued, there was less animosity. Then, the rink literally fell in on the Wascana Winter Club. The Wascana Figure Skating Club was developed out of the ashes of the Wascana Winter Club after the badminton section burned. The goal of the Wascana Club was a new figure skating facility, and proposals were put forward to the City Council. In the final analysis, Council said "no facility if there are two clubs", so serious negotiations were commenced.

A meeting was held at the home of Carol Wiest. Two groups were formed – one to negotiate a merger, the second to promote the facility.

The committee to bring the two clubs together included Rose Engel, Lynn Johnstone, Claudia Nasewich and George Hatton. Lois Barber was Zone Representative for the Section and was a participant in the meetings.

The negations took a number of months. The major matter was developing the Bylaws of the Regina Figure Skating Club. These were extensive and were necessary to accommodate the interests of a club with a large number of N.S.T. skaters and another with primarily C.F.S.A. competitive and test skaters. A major requirement was balancing the power of these diverse groups. When the drafty Bylaws and a draft Memorandum of Agreement was finalized, the question was put to both clubs who then agreed. Financial statements were prepared and made part of the Agreement. The Regina Figure Skating Club was incorporated and the Memorandum signed, and we were underway. When the document was submitted to C.F.S.A. for approval, the club was asked to make some changes. Meetings were held with a committee of the section to discuss the problem.

In the final analysis, changes were made in order to obtain C.F.S.A. approval to the application for membership. The executive was composed of members from both clubs. It was believed the club considered fairly, in interest of all skaters.

The Regina Figure Skating Club

On August 2, 1978, the Regina Figure Skating Club was officially formed by the amalgamation of the Wascana Figure Skating Club and the Prairie Figure Skating Club.

The Senior Section in the Club’s first year was 177 members strong. Combined with what was then called National Skating Test (NST), the club’s first membership total excluding executives was 1,054.

The Regina Figure Skating Club made its home in the Exhibition Stadium, Exhibition Park and skaters continued to return each winter to "the barn".

Since the beginning of the Regina Figure Skating Club, many programs have been offered including CanSkate, PrePreliminary, CanPowerSkate, Adult Skate, and SynchroSkate.

The Regina Figure Skating Club has hosted Saskatchewan Sectionals as follows:
1981 & 1982  Jeanne Tweten as chairperson.
1988  Elaine Jackle as chairperson
1994 Lorraine Scoville as chairperson
2002 Jeannette Goodwill as chairperson

In September 1989, The Regina Figure Skating Club moved to the Optimist arena next to the South West Leisure Centre. Five rinks around the City were used for Recreational Skating Programs.