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<\/a>The official opening day welcoming. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n
I loved seeing the virgin ice sparkling in the sun like that! The entire area is gorgeous!<\/p>\n
And the program had so many wonderful surprises! There was one right after the other.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The children’s choir. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
First of all, we were greeted by an attractive colorful buffet. Being fed is always appreciated by the guests at events such as this one. I\u2019m not a morning food person, (or morning anything<\/em> person, actually,) so fresh fruit and pastries were welcome treats. (I passed on the hot e-word dish, of course.)<\/p>\n The breakfast buffet. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Even better than the repast were the many entertainers. First there was a choir of underserved area school children, and then Sarah Salazar, (from the fabulous local Verdi Chorus,) sang a beautiful National Anthem<\/em>.<\/p>\n Next came Cornell Freeney doing his tricks on a German wheel; I totally get why he\u2019s been National Champion on that apparatus four<\/em> times!<\/p>\n Cornell Freeney. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n A big surprise for me was seeing two-time United States Pairs Champions, and married couple, Alexa and Chris Knierim, perform so up-close and personal. What a gift that was! Skaters, especially pairs, are like magic to me.<\/p>\n The Knierims. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Then a quintet of ladies took the ice for a lovely group performance to Let It Go<\/em>, sung by Alyssa Fox from the Broadway company of Frozen<\/em>. That was a beautiful moment, all the way around.\u00a0[That’s the skaters\u00a0in the photo at the top of this page, taken by Karen Salkin.]<\/p>\n And who better to close the show than everyone’s favorite beagle, Snoopy? Who knew that guy can skate? Is there nothing he can\u2019t<\/em> do?! (Except speak<\/em>, of course.)<\/p>\n Snoopy and friend. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n But what I enjoyed seeing most that day was the smiles on the faces of the non<\/em>-performing guests who were invited to skate when the show portion of the \u201cicebreaking\u201d was over. Hardly any<\/em> of them can really skate, and most were doing what I<\/em> always do\u2014just going along at a snail\u2019s pace, holding on to the railing. (At least I<\/em> do an arm flourish, though, every time I pass the \u201caudience!\u201d) But every single one of them was having a blast! I really wish I could have joined them.<\/p>\n But all of you<\/em> can have that same fun right now<\/em>! The Holiday Ice Rink will be open for almost another two whole months!<\/p>\n Some of the guests skating. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n In addition to enjoying just skating, there are many special events planned at this downtown LA rink. There are Learn to Curl nights, a DJ on most Thursdays, and even one Silent Skate Party! (Mr. X invented the \u201cSilent Dance Party\u201d about two decades ago, so I love seeing others keep up that tradition.)<\/p>\n Tuesdays will be dedicated to Frozen<\/em>, with its music, and colors in lights, (and maybe even what the\u00a0skaters<\/em>\u00a0will become while out there on the upcoming chilly nights!) There will also be free Winter Music Concerts in the surrounding park, and a Winter Holiday Festival on December 7th and 8th, (two nights that I\u2019m, unfortunately for my skating-and-festival-loving self, already quadruple-booked!)<\/p>\n Ice skating is the perfect holiday activity. So get out there and spin already!<\/p>\n Holiday Ice Rink open through January 20, 2020<\/strong> ICEBREAKER OPENING CELEBRATION OF THE PERSHING SQUARE HOLIDAY ICE RINK I think that you all know by now just how ice-skating-obsessed I am. So I was happy to be invited to the opening of the Pershing Square Holiday Ice Rink. I hadn\u2019t attended it in several years, (because of my back issues; I didn\u2019t want<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Pershing Square 532 South Olive Street 213-624-4289 www.holidayicerinkdowntownla.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"