Fireworks, flag give ceremony high-flying start

Ed and Gloria Harris stood with their grandchildren Wednesday night and watched arcing flares burst into chrysanthemum shapes of glowing colors above a fog-shrouded Riverfront Park.

“We brought them down to see the magic,” Gloria Harris said as they held Jazmin Battles, 3, and brother Izaiah 1 ½ against the damp cold.

A fireworks display in midweek in January in Spokane would be pretty magical in itself. But the exploding shells were actually the warm-up act for the grand opening of the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships about to take place in nearby Veterans Memorial Arena.

Although the Harrises didn’t have tickets, they were excited about the event and excited for Spokane.

“It’s a good cultural event,” Gloria Harris said. “You see it on TV all the time, but to see what goes into setting it all up, that’s special.”

They plan to watch some skating on television, which has its advantages, Ed Harris said. “It’s like going to a football game. You don’t get to see everything from the stands.”

While it’s true that some of America’s best young skaters have been on the ice at the Arena or the Spokane Convention Center since Sunday, Wednesday marked the official opening of championship competition among the top class of skaters.

That is the stuff that skating fans travel across the country to see, and television networks come to broadcast.

To welcome this phase of the competition, organizers enlisted 16 young skaters from three local clubs – Lilac, Inland Northwest and Spokane Figure Skating.

Sparkling in pink and sequins, they unfurled a large flag and knelt at center ice. They glided slowly around the rink while Cammi Bradley, winner of the local Gimme the Mike competition, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” making it back to dead center ice just as Bradley got to “… laaand of the free, and the home of the brave.”

The 16 teens have been practicing since early December, choreographer Meegan McDonald said, and as a reward for their hard work they got to watch some of the junior competition earlier in the week and the Championship Pairs short program after the opening ceremony.

“A lot of them have walked away really inspired,” McDonald said. “I tell them, ‘Practice and that’s what it gets you.’ “

Later in the program, Spokane Youth Orchestra played Vivaldi’s “Winter” as local skating pair Kalie Budvarson and Christopher Anders, along with local single skaters Ashley Beekman and Heidi Nelson glided, spun and jumped across the ice. All competed recently in the sectionals and just missed making it to the national competition in their division.

The crowd cheered them and also the welcoming words from Mayor Dennis Hession and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Washington produces everything from airplanes to computer software to fine wines, Gregoire said. “We also produce the finest fans to be found anywhere.”

While other areas may debate Gregoire’s assessment on quality, she had a point on quantity.

U.S. Figure Skating president Ron Hirschberger announced to the crowd that Spokane had broken – perhaps a more accurate word is shattered – the ticket record for a championships event.

The 2002 championships in Los Angeles sold about 125,000 tickets, he said; so far, the Spokane championships have sold more than 146,000.

And so the games begin.