Communities Grow Together on Elevate Springfield featuring Anna Brandon and Sara Neale

Summary

In this engaging interview, Anna Brandon and Sarah Neale from the Springfield Figure Skating Club share insights into figure skating, coaching, and the upcoming Spotlight on Ice show. Discover the passion behind the sport, how the club fosters community, and what to expect from this year's performances.

Key topics

• The history and growth of Springfield Figure Skating Club
• Details about the upcoming Spotlight on Ice show
• The impact of figure skating on community and personal development

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we'll dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your day, y'all. Time to level up, time to crush it. Hey, you are listening to the Elevate Springfield podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10X coach, speaker, and mentor. Here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through it together. We're gonna Elevate Springfield. Well, you are listening to another segment of Communities Grow Together on the Elevate Springfield podcast. As you know, we drop these segments each week. The Communities Grow Together segment will touch on all things nonprofit associations and how we as a community are working together so we can all grow together. This segment is brought to you by David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agency over on West Wabash. Whatever you need insurance-wise, whether that's business, life, home, auto, or anything in between. Hey, David and his team can take care of you. Give them a shout, or hey, stop by and visit them over on West Wabash. These segments are quick hits of actionable strategies and what's going on in our area to help you level up and grow together. Be right back after the break. Looking for personalized insurance with hometown care, David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agent is here to help you protect what matters most: your family, your home, and your dreams. Whether it's auto, home, life, business, David and his team are proud to serve the Springfield community with trusted advice and reliable coverage. Local service, real relationships, peace of mind. Call today or stop by their office. They can build your dream protection plan together. Call 217-726-6343. All right, and we are back for another edition of Communities Grow Together, brought to you by David Hillst, American Family Insurance Agency. Hey, anything you need insurance-wise, whether that's personal or commercial, give David and his team a shout or stop by their office over on West Wabash. So today, in the studio with me, I've got Anna Brandon from the Springfield Figure Skating Club. Anna, how are you doing this morning?

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Pretty good. Pretty excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Thank you for coming down and talking to us about the club. I really don't know a lot about the club, so I'm excited to hear about it, hear what you guys do, and talk about your upcoming uh spotlight on ice. That's gonna be fun. So well, Anna, before we get into the club, let's just learn a little bit about you. How long have you been into figure skating? Talk to us a little bit about your background.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Well, I started figure skating when I was five years old. So in 1998 is when I started, and then I competed for about 10 years, took a little gap, took a little break for college, came back and decided to become a coach. So now I coach it and I've been coaching for about four years now.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Okay. So when you said compete in in the figure skating world, what does that mean? You competed for 10 years, where are you at? What are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Just in like the US. So just all over the place. Um just like you saw in the Olympics, but just a little, a little watered down. Not as, you know, intense.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

So what are some things that I really don't know much about figure skating? So what are some things you do when you compete? How are you scored and all that good stuff?

SPEAKER_03 4:02

So we're scored on our jumps, our spins, our components. You just want to capture the judge's attention, basically. So it's kind of how well you sell the skate because it's just like art on ice. And so you wanna and it's like theater on ice too. And so, like you were judged on how we move, the components we do throughout.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

What got you into it in the first place?

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Um, Michelle Kwan.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

I saw her in the Olympics and I was like, I'm sold. I'm there. And then my cousin, she also skated before me a little bit. And so I went in, saw her skating, and I was like, I'm into it. I want to do it. And then it was just smooth sailing from there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah. That is crazy. It has some of the some of those Olympians, they can really make an impact on kids. You know, especially in the sports like that. Michael Phelps, I think, did that with swimming some. It's just crazy how that can really blow up a sport.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

No, and especially since the Olympics was this year, I feel like we've been getting a lot more traction at the rink because everybody saw Amber Glynn and Alyssa Liu and Isbo, and we have been getting a lot more attention now, which is awesome. I love to see that everybody's getting inspired by the Olympics. So we're happy to have the traction. We're happy to have the crowd coming our way.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Absolutely. So you said the rinks. You're talking about the Nelson Center?

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Yes, yep. The Nelson Center here in Springfield.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Is that the primary place people can skate here? Is there anywhere else, or is it all pretty much all the Nelson Center?

SPEAKER_03 5:24

It's pretty much all the Nelson Center. I, you know, in Bloomington and Peoria, Decatur, there's a couple places, but we have the probably the most crowded rink, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

So as part of being part of the club and doing all the competition, did you always know that, hey, I wanted to continue on with this stuff? Like, hey, I'd be a coach one day with this, and this is always gonna be a part of my life.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

I didn't think when I was little, I think I wanted to be a coach, but I never really thought like it would be my career path at the end. But then when I came back and I started skating again after college, I was like, wait, I really see myself doing this long term. And basically the inspiration that I had when I was a little kid, I kind of got it back and I was like, okay, I'm in it. And now that I'm in it, I'm like, okay, I can't see myself anywhere else.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Definitely can hear the passion in your voice for it and everything like that.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah, I love it. I do love it. It's awesome. And I feel like Nelson Center, it's like just a second family. And so it's just, it's fun to I grew up with these people, and so now I'm back with them, and it's fun to do.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Well, talk to us a little bit about the club.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

So the Springfield Figure Skating Club, it's actually growing. And um so you have to be in a club to compete. So we have a lot of competitive skaters, we have a lot of recreational skaters, we have our show skaters as well. Um I love that the club not only does skating fundraisers, but we also do charity fundraisers as well. We've gone to the Ronald McDonald House and we'll do just some other fundraisers. Like we just did skate like a champion day, which we had um was inspired obviously by the Olympics, and we had people come out and skate with us and feel what it feels like to be an Olympian for the day. We have we got like the medals, we could make medals of your own and stuff like that. So it's fun. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Okay. So how did so when you made the medals, did you have like a little mini competition or something, or it was just everybody out there and you did it?

SPEAKER_03 7:13

No, we had a we didn't have a mini competition, but put like seventh on mine because I it was like a cute little number that was the number seven. And all the little kids were like, Well, I'm number one. And I was like, Okay, well, I'll I'll be number seven. It's okay. We had some relay races, but it was with balloons and stuff like that. So, but it was fun just to watch everybody and you know, music's blair and whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Nice. So, in terms of who can be a part of the club, is it all age ranges? Who's who's a part of the club?

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Age ranges, yeah. I so my youngest skater is two. Oh wow, and my oldest skater is 54. Okay. So I have like a plethora of folks. Uh if you, you know, if you're dedicated and you want to start skating and you want to start competing or you want to be in spotlight on ice, then the club is a perfect place, no matter the age.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Or the skill set. You can you could have zero skill and we'll teach you.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

I was gonna say you could probably start from the very beginning, first putting on the skates and getting out there for the first time, right? I mean, imagine that's what you did with the two-year-old.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

Yeah, with the two-year-old and actually with the 54-year-old too. The 54-year-old, um, he his name is Howie. He decided he wanted to live the dream of being a hockey goalie. And so one day he just called me and he was like, Hey, I saw you on the list of people of coaches, and he's like, I want to start playing hockey. And um, he's been killing it ever since. So it's been awesome.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

That's great. How does the how's the coaching different like compared to somebody that just, hey, I want to learn how to skate or I want to play hockey or I want to be a figure skater, I want to be in this show? You know, how's that different?

SPEAKER_03 8:46

So I feel like for my hockey people, I'm a little bit tougher on them just because they they kind of have to be a little bit tougher. They're they're getting hit left and right, they've got all the pads on, they're smacking in the walls. So I try to kind of teach them not only strength, but kind of a little bit of toughness as well. Where with my skaters, you know, um I'm a little bit more graceful with, but it's different.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

That sports a little more graceful, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:14

You don't have all the pads on, so if you fall, you're falling just on your own. But I would say with two-year-olds, I have to be a lot more patient with. Um, they they're just starting out, they don't really know too much yet. And so you gotta be a little bit more patient. But with like my competitive skaters, there's a little bit of strictness in there. So it just depends on where where you're at and age too. It depends on age too. Because with my adult skaters, I can be a little bit more like I don't want to say flexible with, but I can be a little less strict with because they can know the ins and outs of their own body.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Sure, sure. Any uh initial tips or tricks you could give somebody that's going out there, hey, they're gonna just go out on their own and they're gonna, they're gonna ice skate today for the first time. Anything you could tell them to, hey, be careful for this or make sure you do this.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

I would say um know that it's gonna be slippery because people go out there and like, well, this is a lot more slick than I thought. But I would say go out there with full confidence. Um, make sure you have bent knees. So like keep yourself steady. Don't go up too far on the toe pick or back too far on the heel. Just get your balance about you first. Walk on the land first with your skates before you go on the ice. Make sure you can walk on the skates on land.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Okay. So don't go too far on your toe pick. Is that what you said? Yes. Is that my face plant?

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Is that why people like don't realize that the toe pick of the blade is pretty prominent. And so they'll go forward or they'll drag their foot and the toe pick gets caught on the ice and they'll just whack down. So yeah. We don't want that. No, you gotta be careful. That toe pick is pesky. And then people, when they're fallen, they try to get themselves up straight, but then they end up going too far back, and then they'll just go back.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Yeah. The backwards falls are the ones that make me cringe up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

They are thing you get, yeah. Bust your head on the back.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Yes, yeah. I've done it a time or two, so you know, brain's still kicking. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

There you go. No, I haven't I skated. I think told you I think it's been since high school. So it's been, I don't know, 25 some years since I've skated. So maybe I need to get out there and do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Come, you know, come whenever. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

What's your favorite part about coaching?

SPEAKER_03 11:20

I would say when my skater has like a breakthrough moment where we've been working on a skill for a long time and all of a sudden every correction that I've made comes to light, and they're like, oh my God, I get it now. And then they do the skill perfectly. I don't know. That's like my dream. Because when you're going through so many corrections of things and they're not understanding, it gets frustrating. But then that moment, as soon as the light bulb blinks on and they get it, that's my favorite part of coaching.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

That's huge, isn't it? Any kind of coaching, training, teaching. I mean that that part right there. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

When they finally get it, you're just like, oh my God, yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Love it. Love it. So Spotlight on Ice coming up here soon, right? Yeah. So tell us a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Okay, so Spotlight on Ice, we have been doing it for 48 years now. Um, and this year we are doing a theme. It's called Hits and Heroes. And so for our first half, it's gonna be all hero-based stuff. So we have Superwoman, we have Deadpool and Wolverine, we have all that, and then uh we're doing Hercules as our bigger number. And then our second half is gonna be all hits. So I'm doing a cold spot to MC Hammer. So, you know, we got we've got the hits of over time, and then we're also doing um the greatest showman for the hits part of it.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

I know. Gotta love that.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

It's really good. I just watched it probably, I mean, beginning of last year, and I was like in it. I was like, oh, this is amazing. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Yeah, no, my younger daughter absolutely loves the greatest showman. So I mean, so do I. I mean, I really like it too.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Come on down to the show then.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

No, I will, I will. You've hit a few of them there. I mean, I'm like some old school MC Hammer too. Let's do that. Yeah, and then uh the Hercules show, or what song are you doing from Hercules?

SPEAKER_03 13:01

We're doing the whole thing. Oh, the whole thing. The whole movie, yeah. So we usually do what's called cold spots at first. So we'll do just some solos, some duets, you'll see some little group numbers, and then we do a bigger number. And so Hercules will go through the entire plot line of Hercules. And then same with the hits, we'll do the hits part of it, and then we'll do not the entire plot line of showmen, it's condensed version.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Well, I guess so. You're hitting all the points for me. My girls love the greatest showman, they love Hercules.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

What I'm saying. It's family friendly. And I it's one of those shows that little kids will love, older people will love as well, because we have some of those older throwback hits, so it'll be fun to watch.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Very cool.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah. So we do have on ice seating as well. So you can be right up there with the action. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

You can be right up there with all the action. So that's pretty cool. And there's gonna be some little crowd interaction between. So I feel like on ice seating, definitely a good pick.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

So so you've been involved with it for quite a while, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Yes. So I I was involved with it when I was younger. I was in it, and then Sarah and I just became co-directors about three years ago, I wanna say. And it's been really fun. We've had we've had some trial and error, but we I feel like overall it's been like such a fun experience, and it's been fun to like put back all of the work that like, you know, I was in before. Kind of it's fun to see the background of stuff and how things rock, and then you feel more accomplished at the very end because you're like, oh my god, wait, we put this on. That was awesome. So when it goes successfully, you're like, oh my gosh, I feel really good about myself.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Absolutely. What was the show last year?

SPEAKER_03 14:37

Um, last year it was Aladdin and Hairspray.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

So hairspray was a golly, that was a fun number. I bet it was. We've also done um Hamilton as well. Hamilton was really cool. The ending of it made me cry because we were all standing there and we had like fog and you have all the lighting and stuff like that. I would say that the show is comparable to Disney ice.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Okay. Yeah. There you go. So how do you guys prepare for a big show like this? How long does it take to put something like this together?

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Sarah and I start planning in like September. We start getting together. Okay, what do we want to do? And what songs do we want to do? We start doing this theme, what big numbers we want to do. And then in October is when we start casting. And then obviously it's like the Thanksgiving, Christmas, we let everybody kind of have a break for the holidays. And then we start ground running in January. So we start practicing in January. We'll go all the way through up to showtime, and then tech week is the week before. So there's a lot of mental prep. A lot of mental prep that goes into it, but it's a lot of teamwork.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

How many performers are are in the show?

SPEAKER_03 15:46

50.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

50? Yeah. So 50 folks out there, out there skating. How do you cast all these different roles? Is it just do people come out and be a part of the uh club just to get into this and then go from there? Or what is it?

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Sometimes. Sometimes our skaters they don't skate year-round, they just skate for the show. We have a lot of show folks and we love them. So we don't do tryouts or anything like that. You have to you do have to be in the club to be a part of Spotlight, but we know our skaters very well. Um, and so when we're going through the casting, we kind of know already who's gonna be in what part or who would fit best in what part, just because we know, you know, our skater skills, we know their personality and things like that. You know, when we casted Hercules, we were like, okay, we know exactly the person we want. It's not always a guaranteed spot just because you're in it, or it's not like a guaranteed thing, but we send out a survey at the beginning of each year and we say, you know, are you interested in it? And then we get the interest list, and then we kind of go from there. So we'll kind of it's whoever is interested. Some of our club members don't do it, which is totally fine, but most of them pretty much do.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

So do you have a favorite role that you played over the years in any of the shows?

SPEAKER_03 16:56

God, okay. So last year I was um Troy Bolton from High School Musical.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

All right, fine.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

And I was it was it was my peak. I think I peaked. Yeah, you didn't. That was the one, huh? That was the one. I was a wild cat and I had the wig and everything. I'll have to show you a photo of it. But it, yeah, I had the wig, I had the whole wild cat basketball jersey on. That was probably my favorite one of all time. I try to make my soul as I when I pick them, I try to make them pretty fun because obviously show can be pretty stressful. And so I want to skate to something that's more upbeat, more fun, so I can just let loose some stress and some energy. So one year I was the genie, and then now this year I'm MC Hammer, so jack of all trades.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yeah. Pumped up about the MC Hammer stuff this year.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Damn. I it's gonna be fun. And I have my mom made, you know, the parachute pants for me. So and I've got the vest and like a fake, you know, stereo with me. So it'll be fun. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

How do you do that dance and skates?

SPEAKER_03 17:57

It's hard. The topics. Oh, you go on the topics, yeah. You're going on the topics and you're like, it's all yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

It's that'd have to be difficult. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

It's yeah, it's difficult, but it's fun. It's pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

That's awesome. So tell everybody when the show is.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

It is March 28th and 29th. So March 28th, um, that Saturday, we'll have a show at one o'clock and then six p.m. as well. And then Sunday, we will have a show at one o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

And where can people go and get tickets?

SPEAKER_03 18:24

They will get them online. So if you go on Facebook and you go to Springfield, Springfield Figure Skating Club um Facebook page, there will be a link on there as well. There's some flyers around town, and then you could call you can just call in. Somebody at the front desk will give you some information about it. And there's also tickets day up. So if you do you don't get your ticket online and you want to walk in day up, sell tickets will be available.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

There you go. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with a 28. I'm gonna have to go check that out on the 28th.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Come on down. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

All right. So anything else about the show you want to tell everybody?

SPEAKER_03 18:54

It's gonna be fun. It's something that you know some people are like, you know, is this gonna be a good time? And we promise it will be.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

I know I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

All right. Well, Anna, appreciate you spending some time with me this morning.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Absolutely. All right, I'm here now with Sarah Neal, also from the Springfield Figure Skating Club. Sarah, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

I'm doing great. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Absolutely. No, I had a great time talking with Anna about everything uh spotlight on ice. We're gonna dig in a little bit more with you and talk about your role. How about that?

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Yeah, of course. That sounds great to me. All right.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So, uh, how long have you been with the club?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Oh gosh, practically my whole life. Started taking lessons when I was three. My first time on the ice, I was like two and a half. My mom actually is a figure skating coach still to this day. So I was kind of born into it. So yeah, it's I don't remember a time when I wasn't skating, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

So, so what all do you do for the club?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Um well, I still skate myself, just kind of for fun. Kind of I call it my side hustle. Um, a little bit. Um but I also um have some students that I coach alongside my mom. Um, I do a lot of choreography for shows, whether it be Spotlight on Ice that we're promoting or just different exhibitions that we have throughout the year, too. So that's my main focus.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah. Well, let's dig into that choreography a little bit. Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Oh gosh. I mean, I have a little bit of a music background. I was involved in music in high school. So with that in mind, I have a little bit of an idea of how things can come together from like a movement standpoint and you know what jumps or spins would sound good on different beats. I think I really got inspired by one of my initial coaches. Um, his name is Mark Beck. Um, he was actually a member of the ice capades in the 70s. So he was actually like one of the original directors of Spotlight um 40 years ago. And you know, hearing his perspective and getting to talk with him a little bit about his vision really inspired me. And I think I learned what I know from him. So a lot of credit to Mark for sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Okay. It's been around for 48 years. So with him, you know some of the history behind it. What was the what was the impetus to, hey, I'm gonna do a spotlight on ice here?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

I think it was because of his experience in the ice capades, actually, because um there wasn't really anything um like that around the Springfield area. This was even before the days of Lisney on ice. So um, it was an outlet for him to do that kind of thing and do it in a local area. Um, he has a theater background as well, so it was a way for him to do that and combine his two loves. So yeah, kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Has it has it changed much over the years or has it always been like a two-day spotlight on ice event?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Well, I mean, it always has been really a two-day event. But I think from talking to him, it used to be a much smaller scale event. Um, it actually used to be we had a second ice rink in the Springfield area back in the day at Aishateau, kind of over on the west end of town. And it was a much smaller ice rink. So um again, more of a local exhibition audience. And then over time it just grew and grew, and we started incorporating lights and sound and professional effects, things of that nature. So kind of get on a larger scale as time went on. So as we grew in. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Do you have a favor favorite uh role that you've played over the years in any of these shows?

SPEAKER_00 22:14

I think I do. Um when I was in I think I was in high school, um I played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Um that was kind of special for me because the year before I started doing Spotlight, um I remember like watching it in the audience with my mom and they had done the Wizard of Oz and I was hooked. I think that was like that was like one of my core memories from when I was a little kid. So getting to do that role was a full circle moment for sure. And I love the Wizard of Oz. It's like my favorite movie of all time. So can't beat it. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

So how do you feel like the club uh positively impacts its members?

SPEAKER_00 22:52

So many things. I'm I think I can speak for everyone in the club. And when I say that you're able to make like lifelong friends from the circumstances that you're in, you know, it can be a very stressful environment with competing and just, you know, the stress of performing for an audience. But we all have like similar experiences. And also like figure skating in general is a very individual sport. You're often out there by yourself, but something like Spotlight gives you a chance to work with a team and work with others. So um it's a very unique experience for our skaters that they don't get at other times during the year. So I think it's just a great outlet for these skaters to have a team and feel like their people are behind them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

No, that's an interesting point because yeah like you said figure skating is pretty much it's you. Yeah it's you out there. Yeah. Right. Unless you're doing the the duo type thing it's pretty much you out there. So this is a pretty cool opportunity for everybody to come together and work together on a big a big event.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

So what are you most excited about this year's spotlight?

SPEAKER_00 23:50

That's a large question. All of it is that an answer um of course yeah I'm we've got a lot going on. I'm choreographing the greatest showman that's my main focus. So that's a lot of fun. Again lots of bright colors lots of fun choreography. Me and Anna actually have a duet that we're doing we're just getting to bye bye bye from NSYNC. Oh nice. We're just gonna goof off and have a great time. So yeah sometimes just gotta have a good laugh and have fun with yourself. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yeah so in sync that's on the that's on the hit side of the so actually we put it on the hero side because with the Deadpool Wolverine that's like the first song at the beginning of that movie. So I'm like you know what why might as well put it in that side too so one of us is Deadpool, the other's Wolverine. So yeah just fun thing fun thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

So who came up with this year's this year's theme?

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Um we both did for sure. Um it became one of those things where we didn't really know what we were going to do at the beginning of this year in all honesty. We usually have a general idea of what like our big numbers are going to be but we had a lot of long conversations this year about what we wanted to do. I had wanted to do Hercules for a long time. We haven't done it in the ice show ever. So and I thought it had great music and good potential for um an ice show. So uh we did that and yeah the greatest showman was something we had done um previously when it was a new movie. So it just kind of came together naturally and me and Anna talked and we were like you good with this? Okay. Let's do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

No doubt about it. Yeah and I I think everybody knows the greatest showman songs are really powerful but may not know the Hercules ones. Those are pr those are pretty powerful too. Like the I'm not sure if it's that's what it's called but I will find my way or whatever. Yeah like go the distance. Go the distance that's right. Yeah that's a good that's a good song.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

I think it's such an underrated movie honestly like I hadn't seen it in years and I watched it and I'm like this is so good. Why did not more people know about this so we're yeah we're super excited to share it and hopefully get more people into it.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

So no like I was talking with Anna that it's one of my older daughter's favorite like when she was younger growing up so yeah definitely an underrated Disney click.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

For sure. Yeah so good.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Awesome so anything else you do with the club?

SPEAKER_00 26:02

I teach on the side I have another full time job so like I said my side hustle I have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

What's your other full time job?

SPEAKER_00 26:08

I'm a pharmacist actually at St. John's yeah all right yeah so keeps me busy have two different personalities of my life I guess you could say yeah two very different things.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Well that's pretty cool though. So as a pharmacist do you have kind of a different schedule to where you work longer shifts or you yeah I mostly work evenings sometimes a work day shift.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

So a lot of my skating I get done um in the morning um I have the weekends off so a lot of my weekends are focused with skating. So it's a good balance it's a good stress relief um for sure too uh because pharmacy life can get a little crazy working in the hospital is a little crazy.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

So what made you want to be a pharmacist?

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Oddly enough one of uh our skating parents um when I was growing up was a pharmacist and she would talk to me about the career and how it gives a good life balance with um some of your other activities that you want to do. I knew I was interested in science and chemistry and wanted to do something healthcare related. But yeah after discussing with her and kind of how she lives her life it got me into that and yeah I've been able to balance both pharmacy and skating so it's pretty great.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Yeah it works. Yeah. Now there was a time I don't know I think it was in high school that I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist at one point but then I never did it. So all right so March 28th and 29th. Yeah out at the Nelson Center. Yep let's go appreciate you coming and hanging out with me as well Sarah enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Absolutely well we're gonna let Sarah and Anna get back to Elevate in Springfield but for the rest of y'all we'll be right back. Hey Springfield when it comes to reliable high quality roofing you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Roofing your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities from quick dependable repairs to full replacement from residential to commercial they are your trusted pros. Call them today at 2173 2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection don't wait a little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts protect your home and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. Well thank you for joining us today everybody on another segment of Communities Grow Together on the Elevate Springfield podcast. Thank you again to David Hilst American Family Insurance Agency for partnering with us on this segment a take what you learn today you bring the discipline and follow through and together that's right y'all we're gonna Elevate Springfield be great looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service and fair, honest pricing every time. Whether it's trimming removal or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbors trust, Sangman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangmanTreeService dot com. Sangman Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust