There are a lot of First Night Boston festivities planned for Monday night and one of the most popular events is The Skating Spectacular at the Frog Pond.
This year Olympian Ashley Wagner and other local skaters from the prestigious Skating Club of Boston will take the ice for a free show leading up to the family fireworks at 7 p.m.
One Massachusetts native says performing on Frog Pond is a dream come true.
“Growing up it was always a dream, like, maybe if I make it big, I can teach at The Skating Club of Boston,” said Brad Vigorito, who grew up in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
He’s been skating since he was 11. Vigorito competed through sectionals, was an alternate for nationals for a few years and then turned to coaching full time three years ago.
Over the summer he started living his dream when he got a job as a skating coach at The Skating Club of Boston.
“It’s the most prestigious club probably in America,” Vigorito said.
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At 107 years old, it’s one of the oldest training facilities in the country and was one of the seven skating clubs that founded the U.S. Figure Skating organization. This year, Vigorito is headlining the First Night Skating Spectacular at the Frog Pond with Olympian Ashley Wagner.
NBC10 Boston asked Vigorito what it will be like to skate alongside a skating icon like Wagner.
“Nerve racking, intimidating but she’s super cool and super nice,” Vigorito said. “Again, I have to pinch myself, skating alongside Ashley Wagner in the city, for The Skating Club of Boston, it’s an incredible feeling, a dream come true.”
It’s also a dream for ice dancers TJ Carey of Hopkinton and Miranda Lloyd of Newton.
The teenagers have been practicing together several hours a day, six days a week, for the last three months.
But they say no matter how much they prepare, it’s still a big night and a huge honor to skate into 2019 as part of these First Night Festivities.
“I am definitely nervous and excited,” Lloyd said.
“I think it’s really special for both of us being a part of such a big tradition in Boston,” Carey said.
“To look up mid program and be like, ‘I made it,’ type of thing, it’s really special,” said Vigorito.
The skaters tell us that some possible wet weather could make their performances more challenging, but they say they’re depending on a large, energetic crowd to heat things up.
