The Club quickly established itself in the community as a major entertainment organization. In February 1951, the club announced plans to host its first Ice Capers, which was staged on March 22nd and 23rd. The carnival, featuring a cast of 160 skaters, became an overnight success. The Ice Capers took place annually at Dixie until 1962. Every year the Ice Capers would headline a number of Canada’s best-known rising young skaters.
Ice Capers established a reputation for intricately detailed and colourful costumes, grand sets topped off with lively music and immensely entertaining choreographed numbers. The casts, at times, exceeded 200 skaters. One year the ice at Dixie Arena was actually dyed green. However, these lavish productions took their toll on the organizers and participants. The shows grew to the point where combined time, effort and costs became prohibitive and, following the 1962 show, there was a five-year hiatus. The productions resumed once again with a show in 1967. This show was held at Huron Park Arena as Dixie Arena was not available. The frequency of the shows was reduced to every other year after the 1968 production.
Donna Taylor, who lived in Applewood Acres, was the club’s first skater to compete on the world stage. While Ice Dance was not an Olympic event, Donna and her partner, Bruce Lennie, competed in two World Championship contests. The pair was coached by Bruce’s sister, Maryjane Stong. They won the Junior Canadian Championship in 1967 and the following year they placed 13th in the World Figure Skating Championships in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1969, the pair clinched the Canadian title and then, with a solid victory in Oakland, California, won the North American Championships. They capped off the year by placing 11th in the World Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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