by Nancy Groves-VanBuskirk #29
Karen Hadden KV City President 1982-1984
The decade got off to a whopping start with a rapidly growing membership and the addition of a new city wide event – Tennithon. The KinderKlaus Markt continued to grow and expand, and the neighborhood Kindervelt groups kept coming up with many successful, fun projects and events. Kindervelt attracted women, who like our founder Barbara Robinson, wanted to be more and give back to our community.
And then along came a once in a lifetime opportunity – The World Figure Skating Championships.That quote from Karen really summed up the attitude and talents of the Kindervelt membership. It was magnetic and paired with the outstanding leadership of Sharry Addison – KV City President 1976-1977- and Co-Chair of the 1987 World Figure Skating Championships, we made an unbeatable presentation to the US Figure Skating Committee and then the International Skating Union.
Of course we were not the only ones competing to be co-beneficiary with the two Cincinnati Figure Skating Clubs for this prestigious event. The Junior League of Cincinnati was also interested. And then Cincinnati had to compete with Indianapolis for the site city. City officials, business leaders, CCHMC, Riverfront Coliseum along with Sharry from Kindervelt and Nancy Meiss of the Cincinnati Figure Skating Clubs were all involved in wooing the ISU members. Sharry said she was able to get the Comisar Family to print the Maisonette’s menu in 6 languages which impressed the ISU members. There were teams from 24 countries attending the Championships.
Sharry was part of the delegation from Cincinnati that went to Colorado Springs in 1984 where it was announced that Cincinnati was the chosen city. Sharry immediately began setting up her committees – 12 major committees with 180 KV members chairing these and the various sub-committees. It took two and half years of planning to make sure no detail was overlooked and that included building a practice ice rink in the Convention Center. Cell phones, PCs, the internet were not around then, so to communicate they used “bag phones” (portable phones in a bag), pagers, walkie talkies, and Fax and Telex machines.
Kindervelt members were in charge of: Housing(for skaters, judges, officials and visitors), Hospitality, Transportation, Medical Support, Printing &Sales, Promotion, Public Relations, Volunteers, Theme & Decor and Finance & Administration. Kindervelt was a MAJOR part of a very big event. We put smiles on people’s faces and created a wonderful experience for all.
The entire city was excited to be a part of this event. Businesses big and small donated their time, money and facilities. Doctors, nurses, and physical therapists volunteered at the skating sites; and police, cab and bus drivers were all trained in what to expect. Hotels and restaurants accommodated the needs of their international guests, the media both international and national, as well as the FBI and the KGB. And CBS Sports televised the first live coverage of the Women’s Final.
“This event set the stage for Cincinnati to be a Global player. This would never have happened without Kindervelt”. Sharry Addison
The Pins – several different pins were available. The two pictured show the KV logo in the flattened out world globe and the other is the white tiger mascot, Blades- of the 1987 Worlds . It was designed by Marilyn Riegert’s (KV #29) son John, a student at St Xavier High School.
