CityScene
Speed Skating
Skill and Finesse By Tara George
O Helping Those in Need By Elly Tose
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ounded in 2009, the Society of Excellent Men was formed with two qualities of its patriarch, the late Howard King, in mind: generosity and kindness. Made up of men with a diversity of backgrounds, education, and careers, the unifying criteria is a commitment to helping those in need. The Society was established to serve two purposes. The first purpose is to shed light on mental illness and the stigma that still keeps people from seeking help or talking about concerns and problems with family, friends, and co-workers. As Excellent Man Stan Polowski says, “Compassion is crucial to the recovery of an individual. Reducing stigma and creating a better understanding of mental health issues are integral for preparing our society to help those with a mental illness.” The second goal of the Society is to raise funds for public education and prevention initiatives provided by the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Children’s Centre of Thunder Bay. Presently, there aren’t any
Ministry of Health or social service sources for these types of programs, therefore they must be financed through fundraising and private donations. Each year since 2009, the goal has been to recruit 50 men to the Society—some returning, and some new members. These 50 men will each endeavour to raise a minimum of $500. They will also participate in a wonderful celebratory event that wraps up the fundraising drive. This event called, Styles & Smiles, will be held in the Valhalla Ballroom on Thursday, February 28th. So if over the next few weeks you’re approached by an Excellent Man asking for a donation or hoping to sell you tickets to Styles & Smiles, please keep these words of 2011 Society member Jerry Woods in mind: “A community should be judged by how it helps those in need. By those standards, I think Thunder Bay is a great community.”
My expectation of speed skating was that it would be a combination of the skill and finesse of figure skating with the speed and thrill of hockey. I’ve done both, so I went in feeling confident that I could manage the unfamiliar blades. I donned the skates that the club lent me, put on my hockey helmet and shin pads, and avoiding the circling stream of skaters, cautiously made my to centre ice for a quick lesson with one of the club’s coaches, Hal Lightwood. First lesson: proper speed skating form. For us laypeople, this essentially means a deep knee bend stance, and for non-speed skaters it equates to leg muscle burn. And burn it did! For the first five minutes of skating, I used the corners of the track to stand up from the bent stance, easing the strain on my seemingly unconditioned speed skating legs. However, despite the burn, the straight stretches were my favourite—the speed generated from just a few long extended pushes was impressive and exhilarating. Unfortunately, my speed decreased significantly on the corners, due to my Bambi-like crossovers as I tried to navigate one extended blade over the other. Although my experience was short-lived, I’m keen to give it another try, if only to conquer a graceful cross-over. Until I can get out again, I’ll be practicing my deep knee bend stance. For more information on speed skating in Thunder Bay, visit thunderblades.ca or call 629-7980.
Hal Lightwood
The Society of Excellent Men
ff the top of my head I can name half a dozen speed skaters, two of whom are arguably Canada’s greatest pride and joy—Catriona le May Doan and Clara Hughes. Although we declare ourselves to be a hockey nation, most of us can’t help but be intrigued by the speed, power, and strategy (especially in short-track) of the “other” ice sport. For these very reasons, I’ve always wanted to try speed skating, and this article was the perfect excuse to connect with Thunder Bay’s local shorttrack speed skating club, Thunderblades Speed Skating.
The Walleye
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