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By Pat Louise

National Champ Started at Clinton Skating Club


First time Keith Lichtman put on skates, he struggled on the outdoor rink in Utica.

“I had double runners,’’ he recalled. “I think I still fell.’’

But the New Hartford boy watched the Ice Capades on television and told his parents he would try again. This time they took their 10-year-old son to the Clinton Arena.

“I fell in love with it,’’ Lichtman said. “I said I want to do this for the rest of my life.’’

He has. From those first Learn to Skate group lessons as a new member of the Clinton Figure Skating Club, to now giving private lessons to competitive skating couples in the New York City area, Lichtman has kept skating in his life since.

Oh yes, and in 1981, along with ice dancing partner Anne Spiewak, he won the junior ice dance national championship.

“Everything traces back to the Clinton Figure Skating Club,’’ said Lichtman, who runs his boutique interior design business, KL Interiors, in Manhattan.

Originally, this story on Lichtman was to serve as part of the celebration of the Clinton Figure Skating Club’s big 70th anniversary Fantasy on Ice show scheduled for this weekend. The 110 skaters in the club have been practicing since September for this show, which was to include a number in the Saturday show of alumni skaters.

Michele Batson, CFSC board member who handles publicity, said the club is holding out hope the show can be rescheduled somewhere on spring ice for one night. The Clinton Arena does not have spring ice.

This year’s show covers the seven decades of CFSC, highlighting Platinum music and an artist from each decade. Each year the show includes special numbers by seniors, with four of those this year.

Jessica Martin was skating a solo to Beautiful (Christina Aguilara) as part of the millennial decade with an anti-bullying message.

Seniors and cousins, Annika Heacock-Cerrito and Renee Potasiewicz, were skating a duet to a 90's mashup of Nirvana's Teen Spirit.

Katelyn Potasiewicz was skating her solo to Aerosmith's Dream on from the 70's. Clara Kelly was skating to Rock Around the Clock from the 50's in her first ever…

The full story is in this week's edition of the newspaper. 

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