Accomplishments

Dr. Brown, as he was known around the club in the 1960s, was a wonderful man, a 3-time President of AAFSC, a national and international judge, and a national dance referee. He also served as Vice President of the US Figure Skating. He is remembered for his devotion to figure skating, his warm and gentle associations with young skaters, and his ability to inspire an appreciation of excellence. In memory of Dr. Gordon C. Brown, an award was created and has been presented annually since 1975 to a member of the AAFSC who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and/or sustained leadership, dedication and volunteer services to the AAFSC. The AAFSC Board of Directors chooses the recipient.

This year's recipient is Craig Forsyth. Craig has been with the club as office manager since 2010. He has provided strong financial skills as well as an in-depth understanding of the sport of skating and its world. Since joining the AAFSC, he has been devoted to the Club's success and its promotion of the sport of skating. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, Craig puts in numerous volunteer hours for the club.

Craig has volunteered since 2016 to co-produce Melody on Ice and chair the Basic Skills Competition each June. He has become certified as a rink manager and has served as chair for the membership committee since 2010. He is also known to attend Basic Skills competitions around the state as well as Hockettes, ice dance and qualifying competitions around the nation, serving as both a volunteer at competitions and a supportive club representative. He also makes himself available to help during AAFSC host events like the Springtime Invitational, Adult Nationals, Eastern Great Lakes Regionals, Porter Classic, or Club exhibitions, no matter what day of the week or time of the event. Craig has also served AAFSC as a delegate to the USFS Governing Council for the last eleven years. In all, of these numerous hours Craig gives to the Club, he does so above and beyond his office manager compensation. Moreover, his insight and thoughtfulness during the COVID-19 crisis has been essential. He has assisted the Board in navigating this unprecedented time with an incredible sense of compassion for skaters, coaches, parents, and office staff along with scrupulous attention to the financial solvency of the Club. Craig's selfless efforts are always aimed at what is best for the skaters (both individually and collectively) and the Club.

Congratulations Craig on your receipt of the "Gordon C. Brown" award. We greatly appreciate having someone of your caliber managing the club office as well as the amount of your devotion for giving to the club. Thank you!

Last month, Bonnie Shay received our Distinguished Service Award from the AAFSC Board of Directors. This award includes lifetime honorary membership with the Ann Arbor FSC. It was to be awarded to her at MOI in March but that did not happen, as we all know. Instead it was delivered to her at home along with flowers. Social distancing was maintained!! Which ever way it comes, it is well deserved!

Bonnie has been an integral part of the club for nearly 25 years — as long as the club has been at the Cube, as long as her daughter Becca first decided she wanted to be a skater and a member of the Hockettes. As a committed parent volunteer, Bonnie served as team manager for whatever level team Becca was skating on; she became ‘Costume Mom' for the Hockettes, an unofficial position she holds to this day for her design abilities with needle and thread and beads. She is a master of repair and alterations.

Bonnie is now completing approximately 18 years of work on the Board of Directors. Members can only serve two 3-year consecutive terms (6 years total) and Bonnie has done that three times. She also served as AAFSC President in 2002-03. She continues to serve tirelessly (for over 15 years) as the Club Human Resources chair, managing all the coaches' contracts, interviewing new candidates, and consulting when there are personnel issues.

Then there are those ‘special occasion' jobs. During years of Melody on Ice, you would find Bonnie acting as a chaperone. At Springtime Competition, Bonnie would take care of the volunteer room, often making the food at home and bringing it in, keeping us within our budget. Eventually she ‘moved upstairs' where she can still be found during Springtime, Regionals, or Adult Nationals in the Officials' Hospitality room making sure all our competition officials are well fed and happy. At the Porter Classic, you will find Bonnie at the Registration Desk, where she has been for over 15 years. Bonnie has also been chosen as one of our delegates to USFS Governing Council at least half a dozen times

As for daughter Becca...she graduated from Pioneer High School back in 2006 as a 2006 National Champion Junior Hockettes team member. She continued her synchronized skating while at University of Michigan on the Open Adult Hockettes team. She is now a medical doctor in the Denver, Colorado area.

Bonnie is still here, volunteering her time and efforts with the AAFSC. Her knowledge of the inner workings and history of the club, her dedication to the sport and to the well-being of the club, make her an invaluable asset. Congratulations Bonnie on your "Years of Dedicated Service" award. It's the least we could do. Thank you!

Long time AAFSC member, Bobbie Stoermer, has served the club as president, MOI producer, costume maker for MOI and Hockettes teams. She is a locally renowned USFS judge and is the current AAFSC test chair. In 2004, AAFSC established this trophy in her name.The Bobbie R. Stoermer Trophy is awarded to the AAFSC skater with the highest number of tests passed from March to February on AAFSC test sessions. We're very proud of all our athletes who represent the Ann Arbor FSC through U.S. Figure Skating testing, but would greatly like to show appreciation to our Bobbie Stoermer Test Award Winner, Ema Zagajac!!

The Competitor of the Year Award is presented annually to Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club (AAFSC) skater or skaters that have represented the AAFSC in competitions during the past year (March, 2019 – February, 2020). The winner of the award is calculated on a point system that assigns points for each competition, event entered, level, placement, and competition ranking in a skating discipline. For example, more points are given to qualifying competitions (Regional, Sectional, National) than for non-qualifying competitions, more points for Senior level than Juvenile, etc. The AAFSC skater(s) with the most points is the recipient of the Competitor of the Year Award. It may not be "won" more than once by same skater(s). We're very proud of all our athletes who represent the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club in competition, but would greatly like to show appreciation to our Competitor of the Year Winner, Selina Lin!!

Every year the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club (AAFSC) awards special recognition to an adult member who is an active skater, has represented the AAFSC in competitions, and is a full participant in the life of the Ann Arbor FSC. Our adult program has grown tremendously and, in addition to offering an Annual Adults Skate Too Exhibition, this year the club successfully hosted its first Adult Open Competition. We're proud to offer so many opportunities to our adult skaters, but would greatly like to show appreciation to our Adult Achievement Award recipient, Marie Sherry!!

At the age of 24 on November 19, 2007, we lost a special friend and Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club (AAFSC) member when Julia Segall-Derfler tragically died of a sudden illness. She was a tenacious, eager freestyle competitor in her younger days. She had a zest for life, a sparkle in her eye that made you know she knew what she wanted, and the determination to go out and get it!  She rightfully earned one of the first sportsmanship awards given at our annual AAFSC Banquet and because of that, we honor her memory by putting her name with this prestigious award. She inspired the hearts of many as she embraced people as they were and celebrated their differences.  A vibrant young woman, Julia truly knew the meaning of sportsmanship, but more importantly she lived it every day... we are thrilled to keep her memory alive with this award.