Figure skating and ice hockey had many, many wonderful years and memories while members skated at the old Lakewood Winter Club Ice Arena located on the shores of American Lake in Lakewood.

In 1980, this all came to an untimely end when the roof of the ice arena unexpectedly collapsed. Almost at the same time, the new Sprinker Recreation Facility was finished in Spanaway. It included, of course, a brand new ice rink. This new ice rink became the home of the Lakewood Winter Club and remains that today.

The LWC skating program flourished at Sprinker and under the direction of Kathy Casey. Well known skaters from all over the U.S. and world would come to train with Kathy. Included in this list was Miss Rosalynn Sumners just before her competition in the 1984 Winter Olympics. Also included was Mr. Scott Davis, the U.S. National Men's Champion.

In 1985, the United States Figure Skating Association awarded hosting of the 1987 National Figure Skating Championships to the LWC. For two years, the membership of the LWC worked hard to make this event a success. And a great success it was. Held at the Tacoma Dome, all National Championship attendance records were broken. Some of the events exceeded 20,000 in attendance. Headliners at that Championship include Brian Boitano, Tiffany Chinn, Debi Thomas, Karen Kadavy, Jill Trenary, and a young Kristi Yamaguchi, skating pairs with a future Men's Champion, Rudy Galindo.

If the LWC wasn't already on the "skating map", it most certainly was after this successful enterprise. It wasn't just successful with recognition, it was also financially successful. The LWC had a net profit of approximately $140,000. Wise use of this money soon made the LWC one of the most profitable skating organizations in the United States. A bingo operation was started and soon the Lakewood Skating Foundation was formed to manage the bingo game and the money earned.

After 10 years of successful operation of the Bingo game, the LWC and LSF had an increased skating membership and profits of approximately $75,000 per year. Some of this money was invested but most went towards the skating operation and the skaters themselves. The financial windfall was not to last forever. A major growth of gambling casinos on Indian reservations soon made skating bingo an unprofitable endeavor and the game was closed in 1998. The LWC and LSF continue to manage a financial portfolio and are constantly working on obtaining financial grants and gifts for figure skating.

In 1989, Kathy Casey, the long time skating director for the Lakewood Winter Club, decided it was time to move on and accepted a comparable position with the famous Broadmoor Skating Rink in Colorado. Replacing Kathy was another Kathy - Ms. Kathy Wainhouse, a longtime LWC skater and coach. Having the big shoes to fill did not deter Kathy. One of her first major accomplishments was to hire something the LWC had never had - a skillful and experienced choreographer, Miss Lori Benton. Lori's credentials included being a World Professional Skating Champion.

Kathy also began to increase the growth and membership of skating in Pierce County. The skating program flourished under her leadership. Her professional staff grew from 5 coaches to 14. Everyone of them was busy. A waiting list for private lessons and coaches was soon required. The ISI group lesson skating program under the direction of Janice Forbes exploded. Each 8 weeks of group classes found hundreds of young people learning to skate. The Sprinker Recreation Center became one of the top 10 ice skating facilities in the United States. Janice Forbes was selected as the ISI Woman of the Year in 2002.

The team of Kathy Wainhouse and Lori Benton clicked again in 1994 with production of the first LWC Ice Show since the old ice rink had closed its doors. From the start, the Ice Shows were highly successful. They have gotten better each year. The ice show now has the permanent name, "Reflections on Ice" and is held the same time each year: the first weekend in February. Reflections on Ice has become a highlight in Tacoma and is very professionally produced.

As of this writing, figure skating continues to grow in popularity. The LWC has its largest membership of junior skaters. The adult skating program is growing and the ice dancing has shown a newfound interest. Ice capacity is full and work continues towards the construction of an additional sheet of ice at Sprinker.

Adapted from text written by:
Loren Zimmerman
January 2004