<< Previous   of   Next >> Courtesy of U.S. Figure Skating and Snohomish Coun  (click to enlarge) Olympic silver medalist ice dancers, and five-time U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto will be among the competing athletes at Skate America 2008.

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CONTACT SCBJ John Wolcott, Editor jwolcott@scbj.com Dave Clark, Assistant Editor dclark@scbj.com

Skate America support growing for fall event

By John Wolcott

SCBJ Editor

Planning for October’s pre-Olympics Skate America 2008 event at the Comcast Arena in downtown Everett is well underway by many of the city’s core businesses, tourism sponsors and chamber members.

Leaders of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, Edmonds-based Production Sports and former Olympic Silver Medalist Rosalynn Summers of Edmonds gathered to promote the international event at a mid-July meeting at Joel Starr’s Tailgator Joe’s restaurant,

Area businesses are being asked for loaned or donated items for the event – from 48 office chairs and paper cups for water coolers to 600 energy bars for welcome snacks and four computers for athletes to use in their lounge – plus involvement in promoting the event.

Production Sports’ organizers Laura Lee and Steve Baker said they also need a $15,000 sponsor – or more than one — to host the closing party for the athletes Oct. 26, from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at the Tulalip Resort Hotel, where the athletes and their entourage will be staying during the event.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, chamber president Louise Stanton-Masten and other community leaders were there to urge businesses to get involved in preparing for the Skate America event.

Already, the Internet is filled with news articles around the world about the event, each one of them mentioning Everett as the host site.

That kind of publicity, which will increase as October draws nearer, puts the city and county in the minds of people around the world. Many of those people will come here for the event or for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., tens of thousands traveling through Everett on their way north.

That’s the kind of tourism destination exposure that excites community supporters.

“Some people say, ‘That event won’t drive people to my business, I’m too far from downtown,’ but that’s not the point,” said Starr. “The point is, it’s our town, our event and anything we can do to promote the city for Skate America will benefit everyone, directly or indirectly.”

The Comcast Arena will host the U.S. Figure Skating 2008 Skate America championship events Oct. 24-26, featuring more than 60 athletes from 15 countries.

It’s the first of several skating events that will define who skates in the 2010 competition. More than 150 worldwide news media will be covering the Comcast Arena skating and awards.

Attendance at the various competitive events — from ladies, men, pairs and dance skating — is epxected to attract more than 30,000 people to the Everett area to watch the competition.

Millions of people also will be watching the festivities on NBC and television networks around the world.

Local partners for sponsoring the event include Washington State’s trade and economic development division, City of Everett, Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Northwest Interclub Figure Skating Association, The Herald, WARM 106.9, The Everett Clinic, Everett Transit, Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour, Tailgater Joe’s, the Holiday Inn in downtown Everett, 24-Hour Fitness, Snohomish County Office of Economic Development, Snohomish County Tourism Bureau and the Tulalip Resort Hotel.

The next five competitive events for the skaters will be in Canada, China, France, Russia and Japan through the end of November. For more information visit the Internet at www.2008skateamerica.com.