Figure Skating Stars Will Give Benefit Here

The most impressive skating exhibition in New England in ten years will come to Watson Rink this weekend under the sponsorship of the Eliot House Committee.

"An Evening With Champions" will benefit the Jimmy Fund-the Children's Cancer Research Foundation in Boston that annually raises $500,000 for the care of children with leukemia and other forms of cancer found in the young.

The show was the brainchild of an Eliot House junior, John Misha Petkevich, and with the help of the Jimmy Fund and Eliot House, it has become a major event in the national skating picture and in Jimmy Fund fundraising.

Petkevich, the 1970 U.S. Men's Figure Skating Silver Medalist, has attracted many of the nation's best skaters. Janet Lynn, 1970 U.S. Ladies' Champion, and Jim Sladsky and Judy Schwomeyer, the 1970 U.S. Dance Champions, will highlight the performance.

Petkevich first thought of the event when he was in the hospital on October 31 for a routine check on his knees. "I was depressed by all the children I saw permanently bed-ridden, and I wanted to do something to help them," he said. By Nov. 10, plans for a two-evening figure-skating show at Watson Rink, Dec. 4 and 5, were finalized.

Petkevich's idea received an enthusiastic response from his friends in Eliot House, so he took it to the House Committee, where the unanimous response was to go ahead,

John Powers '71, who coordinated the event, said, "I was really worried. There was almost no time."

Petkevich immediately contacted skaters, and among the first to volunteer were Fitzie Gogan '73, 1969 New England Ladies' Champion, and Scott Ethan Allen '71, Olympic Bronze Medalist.

The number of Eliot House students working on the exhibition rapidly multiplied. Powers, Petkevich, Thomas Parry '71, George Chatfield '71, and Winthrop G. Minot '73 formed the nucleus of a committee.

Dick Button, former World Champion, will be master of ceremonies. Other skating stars who will perform are Julie Homes, 1970 World Bronze Medalist, and Melissa and Mark Militano, 1970 U.S. Pairs's Silver Medalists.