Senior Olympics Figure Skater
I was born in Elkhart, Indiana and raised in Bloomington, Illinois, by my mother. I was the youngest of three children. I attended public schools from kindergarten through senior high, graduating in 1968.
Around 12 years old my mother bought me a pair of ice skates for a Christmas present. Through my mother's employer, we had membership to a club that had indoor heated facilities. I was now able to swim in the cold weather and I skated a little too. It wasn't long before I was putting all my efforts into skating. I fell totally in love with everything about skating.
There was a family in town that had a great deal of knowledge about skating. Mr. Nastel taught me a lot and played a big part in my getting started. I passed some of the basic tests in ISIA, but never competed. We did have amateur shows, which were fun! I would take the bus from school to the rink then catch a ride, with one of the other skaters, to my grandmother's house. I'd spend the night and then get a bus to school the next morning. I did this two days a week and on weekends my mother would take me. I did babysitting and raking leaves to pay for my lessons and skating equipment.
When I was 16, I worked part-time as a Nurses Aide. Between working and meeting a boy I thought was my first love, I soon had quit skating.
My husband was relocated to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. We joined a club in Columbia, right outside the base. I took lessons, testing, and skated in my first competition. I gave birth to my second son in February 1977. I had been skating the day he was born and was back on the ice three days later. I skated in my first competition when the baby was six weeks, at FS2 level in Knoxsville, TN. I won a silver!
My second competition in Atlanta, GA, at FS 4 level, I again won a silver medal.
The thing I feared the most, We were transferred again. We were on our way to the Republic of Panama. Eventually I settled in and put my energies into my children's activities. It was the longest three years I spent anywhere.
Finally, we relocated to California. Yeah! Yippee! I was going to skate again. I had to commute 2½ hours one way twice a week. I took test and competed again. I was able to complete the USFSA Preliminary FS and Preliminary Figure Test, First Test Figures, Preliminary Ice Dance Test, and The Juvenile FS Test. I won numerous medals and trophies. I also became involved in Trial Judging. Commuting, working part-time, keeping up with a family of four children, and going to school got to be too much and burn out set in. That was in 1986.
In 1989, my husband had retired from the Army and was teaching JROTC for the Walla Walla School District. I found an ice rink manager's position here in town. I also taught lessons. The rink had only the basic USFSA program. I incorporated the ISIA program, and recruited skaters from the group classes to take private lessons.I had soon built a new skating club. I managed the rink till January 1991. I returned to school and graduated from Nursing School in June 1993.
It wasn't long before I was back skating again. I was soon taking lessons, and had been reinstated as an amateur. I have passed my Pre-Pre Moves in the Field Test, Preliminary MIF, and Pre-Juvenile MIF, the Adult Pre-Bronze, Adult Bronze, and Adult Silver Freestyle Test. I plan to take the Adult Gold Level Test in free style soon. I'm still a FS6 ISI, but, have goals to take FS7 by the end of this season as well as the Juvenile MIF. In the future I want to take the Intermediate MIF and Freestyle in USFSA.
That brings us to today. I've been married 30½ years and have an empty nest as all 4 children are settled on their own. I also have three grandchildren aged 6, 4, and 2 years. My husband still works as a JROTC instructor at Walla Walla High School. I'm working part-time at the Odd Fellows Home in Assisted Living. and as a substitute Nurse in the school district. I'm still skating, average around 9 hours a week of skating hours. I have big plans of skating in the Senior Olympics in January 2002!
Garri Ann Taylor
In spring of 1970 I met the man who is now my husband. He had two children from a previous marriage and we had two boys - four children. My husband was in the Army and we went to Germany two days after we were married. He found a rink and I wanted to show him some of my talents. I didn't have my own skates and the rentals were as dull as a butter knife. I knew it would be awkward but I didn't realize how bad it would be. I was so disappointed and depressed.
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