Annual ice show is this weekend in Luverne

WORTHINGTON - Spring may be on the way, but the ice will be a popular place to be this weekend in Luverne.

The Minnesota ON’ice-Blue Mound Figure Skaters 28th annual Ice Show will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Blue Mound Ice Arena in Luverne. A total of 69 participants - ranging in age from 3 years old to adult - will take part. Three are graduating seniors, with two of those skating with the program for more than 15 years.

Skaters from 17 different communities and three states are in the Blue Mound Figure Skaters club, which is based in Luverne. Among them are three Worthington High School students who bring plenty of experience to this weekend’s performances, which will highlight popular Minnesota traditions, teams, ideas, famous Minnesotants, companies, landmarks and more.  

Bailey Weg, a WHS junior, has been skating in Luverne since the third grade. Like others in this weekend’s ice show, she’ll showcase a Minnesota component.

“I have a trio and it’s about Minnesota Wild hockey,” Weg said. “We’ll wear Wild jerseys, skate with hockey sticks and have some Wild flags.”

Also part of that trio is WHS sophomore Liz Spiegelhoff, who is taking part in skating in Luverne for her fourth year after previously participating while living in Wisconsin. She, along with Weg and WHS sophomore Maranda Thier, will additionally skate in a synchronized performance that includes 12 skaters in all. The three will also be in a team compulsory showcase with four other skaters.

“It’s a routine, but people split off and do a solo element,” Weg said.

Weg. Spiegelhoff and Thier will also skate in the opening “Minnesota Nice” number, which includes 30 of the club’s freestyle skaters. Thier, meanwhile, is also skating in a solo performance titled “The Loon.”

“I’ve competed in competitions and am just kind of bringing it to the show,” Thier said of her skating solo, which is choreographed by her coach, Cathy Shearer. “It’s about a minute and a half … and it has a single axel - that’s the big thing.”

Maranda, who began skating at age 4,  joined the Blue Mound Figure Skating Club as a second-grader alongside Weg.

“We did the last year in Worthington Figure Skating and then we were like, ‘we should do something else.’” Weg said. “Then Maranda and I joined Luverne the same year.”

Spiegeloff, who said she began skating at age 3, found out about the club at school.

“Maranda told me about it - I didn’t even know it existed, to be honest,” she said.

Taking part in the Luverne club means frequent back-and-forth trips on Mondays and Saturdays, as well as some Wednesdays and Sundays. Lessons begin in October and go through December, and in January practice for the annual ice shows starts.

The ice show may take place this weekend, but that won’t mean the season’s over. A group of competitive skaters from the club - including Thier, Spiegelhoff and Weg - will be taking part in “Minneshowdown!” event April 13 in St. Paul, which features six team-only events.