Fred's, (Used to be Barb's), Board

Skating legends dazzle Westman
By: Melissa Verge
Posted: 10/21/2018 3:00 AM |
Scott Moir (middle) comes out onto the ice at Westoba Place on Sunday, draped in a Canadian flag. The Canadian icon stands surrounded by other Canadian figure skaters at the Brandon stop of the Thank You Canada Tour.
MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN

Canada’s top figure skaters gave Brandon a taste of the Olympics on Sunday, with a stop at Westoba Place as part of their Thank You Canada Tour.

A crowd of more than 3,300 people took in the show, with Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel, Eric Radford, Kaetlyn Osmond, Elvis Stojko, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje all part of the performance.
Figure skaters Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje perform in Brandon on Sunday as part of the Thank You Canada Tour.
MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN

Their outfits sparkled under the bright lights of the arena, as the skilled athletes performed great jumps and spins in front of the Brandon crowd.

Audience members said they were impressed by what they saw early on.

After watching them since the 2010 Olympics, it was an opportunity Alexis Teetaert said that she couldn’t pass up.

She came from Melita to watch the show.

"I wanted to come to see all the skaters that I’ve watched through all of the Olympics. I’ve been following some of these guys for years," Teetaert said.

Teetaert never thought she would ever get to watch these stars perform in person.

"It’s kind of special to be able to see it first hand especially like in small town Brandon, you never really thought that you would be able to, so it’s exciting," she said.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir enjoy the beginning of their figure skating routine at Westoba Place on Sunday.
MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN

To see their talent first-hand is incredible, she added.

"You kind of get swept up in it, and for me it’s something that I’m never going to be able to do, so it’s just really neat to watch," she said.

Jaedyn Moore also came out to watch the show on Sunday, all the way from Saskatchewan. Moore spent a lot of her time watching the Olympics on TV, but it was a different experience in person, she said.

"It’s cool seeing like the movements of them and how it actually happens," Moore said. "I’m a dancer, and it’s hard enough to do the moves on the ground let alone on the ice."

As a hockey player, Kristen Friesen was also in awe at how they could perform such delicate manoeuvres. She came to watch the performance after winning tickets to the show. Friesen and her mom watch the Olympics together on TV, and now they could watch them skate together in person, she said.


Scott Moir lifts Tessa Virtue into the air during their performance at Westoba Place on Sunday.
MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN

"You can really see how smooth they are," Friesen said.

"It’s just like so much different [compared to hockey] how smooth it is. How they can do the jumps and spin I don’t know. I don’t know how they can spin themselves so fast, it’s pretty incredible."

The show is something that they wanted to bring to fans, Chan said in a statement on the Thank You Canada Tour’s website.

"There are so many amazing people across Canada who have supported this group, [and] we wanted to thank them all," Chan said. "We are going to do just that."

After their performance in Brandon on Sunday, the Olympians will head to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a performance on Thursday.

Their tour wraps up Nov. 24 in St John’s, N.L.

» mverge@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @Melverge5

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kittykins wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:01 pm My brother-in-law dropped off a CD with his 144 pictures!! They're REALLY great! I'm busy this morning and early afternoon, but I'll try to post a few on here. It's going to be hard to pick favourites, believe me.

Ok, here's my photobucket: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/KittyKi ... our%202018
Pictures by Tom Wenham

The Brandon Sun has full page story on the front page:

Here's a link to the full story online: https://www.brandonsun.com/local/skatin ... 75051.html

Thanks for sharing the photos Kitty

Elizabeth wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:13 pm

kittykins wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:01 pm

The Brandon Sun has full page story on the front page:

Here's a link to the full story online: https://www.brandonsun.com/local/skatin ... 75051.html

Thanks for sharing the photos Kitty

Unfortunately the Brandon Sun doesn't let people see the whole article unless they are already subscribers. However, the picture is visible at least. I see my sister put some of Tom's pictures on the TYCT twitter. They were taken from the Press Box. I really think he did an outstanding job for an amateur.

kittykins wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:00 pm

Elizabeth wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:13 pm

kittykins wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:01 pm

The Brandon Sun has full page story on the front page:

Here's a link to the full story online: https://www.brandonsun.com/local/skatin ... 75051.html

Thanks for sharing the photos Kitty

Unfortunately the Brandon Sun doesn't let people see the whole article unless they are already subscribers. However, the picture is visible at least. I see my sister put some of Tom's pictures on the TYCT twitter. They were taken from the Press Box. I really think he did an outstanding job for an amateur.

I'm able to see the whole article and all of the photos, for some reason.

Tom did do a good job from his vantage point

Wow, that's strange as I have to login to see the whole thing. It could possibly be related to your area. I have the same problem at home which is why I didn't post the link. Perhaps you're far enough away that there isn't a block on it as they don't care? lol

P.S. I also have to comment that Brandon is NOT a small town like the girl said in the article. It's a small city like the other places on this tour. It's the second biggest city in Manitoba followed by Steinbach which is now a city larger than Thompson. They are very small compared to Winnipeg however.

P.P.S. Sold out at the Keystone Centre is 5,000 and there were 3,300. Pretty good though.

I saw a current interview with Scott & Tessa and Patrick on SN the Tim & Sid show (I believe) on the road to Sudbury/The Soo?. It was too short notice to record anything, but hopefully it will show up here:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/?s=Tim+%26+Sid

The skaters were all made honourary Soo Greyhounds before their show in Sault Ste-Marie. Each of their jerseys had their names on the back

From CTV Communications on Twitter:

Fans across the country now have the opportunity to see some of the nation’s biggest names in figure skating hit the ice to perform beloved Olympic-caliber routines in THANK YOU CANADA, a new CTV original special premiering Sunday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and the CTV app.

I am still smiling after attending the show in Kingston, ON last evening The ticket was a wonderful early Christmas present from my "honourary" family who live in Kingston - seeing it with a 9 year old who had never seen live skating (except hockey) but had watched the skating at the Olympics was so much fun! She thought it was AWESOME!!

A little montage of some highlight moments (not my photos)

Thank you, Kitty for posting these photos I will have a closer look later on.

Elizabeth wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:28 pm I am still smiling after attending the show in Kingston, ON last evening The ticket was a wonderful early Christmas present from my "honourary" family who live in Kingston - seeing it with a 9 year old who had never seen live skating (except hockey) but had watched the skating at the Olympics was so much fun! She thought it was AWESOME!!

I'm so glad you had such a wonderful time!

happyheini wrote: Fri Nov 09, 2018 2:35 pm Thank you, Kitty for posting these photos I will have a closer look later on.

You're welcome Heini.

An update on the TV broadcast of the tour (filmed in Oshawa) from Twitter:

The Thank You Canada Tour premiers on CTV on Sunday, December 2nd, 8-10pm Eastern Time.
Additional air dates on TSN:
Wed, Dec. 12 @ 8pm – TSN1/4
Sun, Dec. 23 @ 7pm – TSN2
Tue, Dec. 25 @ 1pm – TSN2
Fri, Dec. 28 @ 12pm – TSN3/5

After a brief break, during which most of the skaters made a trip to Nashville to appear in the Scott Hamilton and Friends charity show, the final two shows of the tour will take place in St. John's, NF on Saturday (afternoon and evening). The cast will be down to 8 for these shows as Elvis made his last appearance in Moncton.

No sign of the Thank You Tour onCTV schedule for Dec 2nd.
Anyone know what's going on? Think I saw an ad for streaming.
My PVR schedule is only until the 11th, so don't know yet if it will be on TSN.

I have no idea what is going on, Judy, but will try to find out. I had it set on my PVR and it has now disappeared

From CTV Communications via Twitter [@CTV_PR]:

Due to post-production challenges, the #ThankYouCanada holiday special will not air as scheduled this Sunday on @CTV. The special will be re-scheduled for a later date. Watch this space for the announcement of a new date.

I don't know what this means in relation to the other scheduled dates from the original announcement:
Additional air dates on TSN:
Wed, Dec. 12 @ 8pm – TSN1/4
Sun, Dec. 23 @ 7pm – TSN2
Tue, Dec. 25 @ 1pm – TSN2
Fri, Dec. 28 @ 12pm – TSN3/5

Thanks for the heads up, Elizabeth. Too bad I had been looking forward to it. But there is always the GPF

There was no broadcast on TSN last night and there is still no news is forthcoming yet about a rescheduled CTV broadcast

From CTV Communications today (via a Twitter message):

We do not have an updated broadcast date. Once post production is completed it will be re-added to our schedule

Post production is mostly editting and maybe cutting in interviews from other sources, if they do any of that. It may be they are swamped with work or shorthanded with editors. or just not willing to pay overtime or hire more people.

We have a broadcast date!
February 10th on CTV. Check your local listing and maybe TSN too, just in case.

Thanks for that news, Judy - some of us were just discussing it in the bar after a long day at Canadians

A reminder from CTV Communications via Twitter:

Skating stars including Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir appear in the previously scheduled Thank You Canada special, streaming Feb. 10 at 7pm ET on CTV (encore airs Feb. 11 at 8:30pm ET on TSN Sports)

And a pictorial reminder

I read that as Sunday, the 7th. Brief moment of panic thinking I missed it because PVR is set for the 10th.
Looking forward to the broadcast.