By Gary R. Blockus of The Morning Call
Henrietta "Hence" Bollinger loved to skate. Not just any kind of skating. She loved to speed skate.
That was in the early 1980s. It's been about 15 years since she tried it seriously, but she always wanted to go back.
Now is her chance.
Bollinger, who lives in Bethlehem, and former U.S. Olympic speed skater Leslie Bader are forming a Lehigh Valley Speed Skating Club at the Lehigh Valley Ice Arena in Whitehall.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Bader, who did long course speed skating at the Calgary Olympics in 1988, will head the staff for an exhibition and public clinic at the arena.
Bader and Bollinger will be joined by Janie Quigley, a noted cyclist and former pursuit world record holder, who was a three-time short track speed skating national champion and silver medalist at the 1989 World University Games before concentrating exclusively on cycling.
"I have a passion for skating," said Bollinger. "I went from speed skating on the ice to roller speed skating -- they didn't have in-line back then -- to bikes, but my passion was always the ice.
"I was reading the 'Call Me Kelly' column in The Morning Call last year around this time during Musikfest, and it said something about 'if you ever wonder what happens to former Olympians' and mentioned that Leslie Bader was living here [in Schnecksville]. I was like 'Wow!'
"I called, and after about a year of bugging her -- for lack of a better word -- she saw that someone was serious and wanted to do it, so she decided to make it go."
The first hour of Saturday's program will be a public exhibition on short course speed skating. At 2:30, the public can join in for a free clinic. The entire event is free, but the arena will rent figure or hockey skates for $1.25 for those who need them.
The L.V. Ice Arena is nearing completion of a second building, and, when that becomes available sometime in the fall, Bader and Bollinger hope to get the speed skating club off the ground.
"Steve Comarano, the rink owner was so excited that I approached him with this that he said he wanted to meet with me immediately, Bollinger said. He said, to show how serious he was, he would have met with me the day before."
Short course speed skating is conducted on a hockey rink, usually a 111-meter oval. Long course events are usually conducted on an outdoor 400-meter oval.
Short course generally has mass starts, with four to five people on the starting line at a time and no lanes. Long course is generally contested against one other skater in specific lanes with skaters switching lanes after the first set of turns to equalize the distance.
Skates for short course and long course differ in length; the rockering -- or steering capabilities -- of the skates also is different.
Bader, a mother of twins, is thrilled to return to the ice.
"We need to do this in this area," Bader said. "We need to get a club going; we need to have a coach, and I fit that bill. I think Hence and I will make a very good team."
"Not only do I have athletic experience, I have coaching experience. I was a club coach, a regional coach and the director of a skate camp. I'm also a teacher at Trexler Middle School."
Bader said speed skating is ideal training for hockey and figure skating, especially with its base in power skating.
"I can teach anyone to skate," she said. "I cannot only teach technique, I can develop training programs."
Bader, who is 32, started skating when she was 10 but didn't take it seriously until she was about 21.
"People call me a Cinderella story," she said. "The first year I went Milwaukee to train full time, I made the world team as an alternate. I didn't make many friends by knocking people out that year."
"I went through the ranks fairly quickly. I skated the Olympics in 1988. I came in seventh in the 1,000 meters, 10th in the 1,500. In the 500, I came in 23rd and in the 3,000, I was 20th."
The distances for short course are the same, including the 5,000.
"We want a club that's open to all levels of skaters," Bader said.
"I'd like to be able to take people and teach them from beginner to a highly competitive skater. I also want to be able to provide for people who just want recreation."
The Lehigh Valley Ice Arena is located on 7th St. in Whitehall. Take Route 145 to Eberhardt Road. The first left hand turn is 7th St. and the rink is on the right hand side.