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Research by Wayne Hundley  

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Arrowhead Figure Skating Club — 1952–2002

Trying to put into words the history of an organization that is half a century in existence is not an easy task and there are many events that have gone undocumented and forgotten by all but those who took part, but in the following we will touch on the highlights of the legend that is the Arrowhead Figure Skating Club.

The Beginning

The Arrowhead Figure Skating Club had its beginning when a small group of skaters who were skating at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino wanted to form a club to promote the joys and benefits of ice skating. The adventurous group even hosted the California State Championships (which was the predecessor of the Regional Championships) at the Swing in their first few years of existence.

The club was without ice for a short time, but when the Ontario Ice Bowl (now known as the Ontario Ice Skating Center) was built in nearby Ontario in 1957, the club moved its headquarters there where we have been ever since.

Beginning in 1959 and running through 1984, the Arrowhead Figure Skating Club put on elaborate annual shows which all the club members looked forward to. Everyone participated and pitched in to help in the production of these shows. Featured guest stars in our shows over the years have been Sondra Holmes (1965, 66), Roger Bass (1967, 68), Richard Ewell (1970), Julie Lynn Holmes (1965, 67, 68), Jo Jo Starbuck & Ken Shelley (1967), Susan Berens and Roy Wagelein (1966) and soon-to-be Olympic Champion Peggy Fleming (1964). In the 70's guest stars included Dorian Shields-Valles (1972), Lisa Carey & Doug Varvais (1975), Barbie Smith (1974), Hal, Cathy & Lyndy Marron (1976, 77), and Robert Wagenhoffer as a Club Member and later as a special guest star. Guest stars included Michael Verlich and Jill Heiser, Patrick Brault, Fritz Steinheider and our home club Gold Medalists Chris McBeth, Susie Frisfelds and Elisa Davis in the 80's.

The “Old Smoothies”

In the 60’s and 70’s a highlight of our shows was the presence of our “Old Smoothies”, Dottie and Barney Weschler. Dottie and Barney were charter members of the club in 1952 and Dottie served as the club’s first Secretary. They each served as Club President and in many other capacities throughout the years. For their dedicated service to the club, they were both made Life Members in the 70’s. Dottie passed away a few years ago, but Barney still lives locally in Upland.

The Arrowhead Open

When there were only a handful of Open competitions, Geneva Lichlyter and Dottie Wechsler organized the First Annual Arrowhead Open Championships in 1964. It was set in late October and was open to all skaters that weren’t eligible to compete at the Southwest Pacific Regionals. For years it was called the “Mini-Southwest” and was held on 2 consecutive Sundays. It was later condensed to the last full weekend in October, and in honor of the proximity to Halloween, Witch Trophies for the winners are a tradition that started in the early 90’s and continues to this day. After Geneva’s passing in 1983, the Geneva Lichlyter Artistic Award was established in her honor and is presented annually for the most artistic performance of the competition.

In the first years of the Arrowhead Open (as in all competitions at the time), skaters had to be good in figures to do well. Everyone skated 2 or 3 figure eights, and those who placed in the top 3 in their group went on to the 2nd round of figures. And then only the top 8 skaters in the 2nd round of figures got to freeskate. The judges in the early days for the freeskating judged from chairs on the ice by the far wall and female judges were asked to dress formally in skirts and high heels rather than comfortably in warm boots, pants & long coats. Pair events were potentially hazardous to the judges’ well-being and they were eventually moved to behind the safety of the barrier in the early 70’s.

Over the years the Arrowhead Open has been one of the first competitions for many skaters as well as many future World and Olympic team members and champions. At the first Arrowhead Open, Linda Lichlyter was a winner in Second Test Girls, Wendy Halber won Preliminary Girls Group I and Candy Pease-Scott won Preliminary Girls Group II. Competitors in the early years in the 60’s included Wendy Burge, Larry Seale, Kim McIsaac, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner (as single skaters), and Vicki Heasley.

In the 70’s Robert Wagenhoffer, Linda Fratianne, Todd Sand, Brian Boitano, Katy Keeley, Jennifer Eckman-Hollis, Patrick Brault, Tiffany Chin, Rory Flack-Burghart, Christopher Bowman, Wayne Hundley, and Stefanie Schmidt-Mathewson took part in our competition.

Skaters in the 80’s included Monica Sheya, Kristy Evans, Stephanie Stiegler, Tiffany & Johnny Stiegler (as single skaters), Angela Nikodinov, Amber Corwin, Michelle Kwan, Karen Kwan, Amy Evidente, Jennifer Mangiapelo, and Tristan Vega (twice winner of our artistic award).

More recently in the 90’s competitors such as Josh Hanley, Lia Nitake, Katy Edgecomb, Tatiana Klunchoo, Christie Baca, Sasha Cohen, Shanell Noji, Jordana Blesa, Michael Villareal (Lichlyter Award winner in 1994), Molly Clingan, Lauren & Brian Simm, Sarah Blood, Marko Perko III, Hayley SooHoo (2-time Lichlyter Award winner) and Jason Takahashi (1998 Lichlyter Award) took part.

In the 21st century, more great champions will skate in our competition as history continues to unfold.

Drill Team Events

Always a big part of the Arrowhead Open in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s were the “Drill Team” events. Some years as many as 12 teams competed, as it was always the highlight event of the competition. In a time when it wasn’t thought that Drill Team competitions were feasible, Geneva Lichlyter organized the first “Arrowhead Pow Wow Drill Team Competition” in 1975 which was one of the first Drill Team Competitions in the country.

At the first Pow Wow, 16 teams competed in 5 events. Teams came from as far as Santa Rosa, and Charles Schulz (creator of “Peanuts”) was in attendance as his daughter skated for the Santa Rosa team. He was very gracious in doodling Snoopy’s and signing autographs for members of the audience.

The Second Annual Pow Wow took place in 1976, but it was not until 15 years later, in 1991, when Wayne Hundley resurrected the competition as an annual event. When only 2 teams entered in 1993, the Fifth Annual Pow Wow was cancelled. A 6th competition was held in 1996, this time in Lakewood. The 7th Annual Arrowhead Pow Wow Synchronized Skating Championships (Drill Team’s new name) has yet to happen, but will probably be called the 7th “Occasional” Championships when it does.

“Eights”

An offshoot of the Drill Team competition and the Pow Wow was an event held in 1990 called “Eights”. It was a compulsory move competition for a team of 8 skaters and drew 8 teams — 3 from Arrowhead FSC, 4 from San Diego FSC and one very special team called “Here Come the Judges”.

The Judges Team was made up of 4 men and 4 women, all USFSA Judges. Organized by Wayne Hundley, the Judges team consisted of Marge Heslin, Jan Thielman, Jacky Sitkowski, Melissa Dumond, Ron Nichols, George Rossano, Brian Hammer and Wayne. While not the best team in the competition (they came in 3rd out of 4), they certainly had the most fun.

Arrowhead FSC Competitors

While being a small club, we have over the years had competitors who have excelled and represented the club at Regional, Sectional and even the National Championships.

Patrick Brault was 1984 National Novice Men’s Champion and Robert Wagenhoffer went on to win Junior Pairs and Junior Men in 1977 and was 3-time World Team Member (with Vicki Heasley in 1979 in Pairs and in 1981 and 1982 in Mens Singles).

Members who represented Arrowhead FSC include Lance Shinkle, Terry Weiner, Jerry Wechsler, Linda Lichlyter (Stroh), and Candy Aylor.