Fan Messages

Well here it is 2007.…seems hard to believe that 10 years ago in 1997 I got to see Jozef skate for the first time! I had just started watching figure skating on TV more and I just couldn’t get enough of this long blonde haired skater that was skating to Bruce Springsteen and rock star’s music when everyone else was much more laid back. It was the music that I liked and he was doing a great job at adapting the music to the jumps and spins that you see in skating.

I got to searching around and found out that he was going to be in the Skate the Nation tour and I knew then I had to be there to see him skate. We got tickets and headed to the show….roses in hand….hoping to get a chance to give them to him at the end of the show. Our seats were not down by the ice but when the show was about over I made my way down to the ice. I was lucky and after the show all the skaters skated around the edge of the ice and shook hands with the fans. I did get to give Jozef the roses that night and from then on I have been a die hard Jumpin Joe Fan!!!

I got involved with his fan club shortly after that and have made some really great friends. Deb (the fan club president) and I started talking and soon I was making plans to go to Salt Lake City to meet her. Deb, Cindy, Sharon and I have become very good friends through the years. We talk on the phone and e-mail on the computer and try to once a year meet some place to see Jozef skate and catch up on what is going on with each of us. Some times we have not been able to for either work related reasons or financial reasons…..and I miss it a lot when I don’t get to see them. They are truly some of my best friends. We have such a good time getting to spend some time with Jozef and of course getting to see what songs he will be skating to for the year.

Jozef is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He doesn’t take his fans for granted and each fan is as important to him as the next. I have always been sort of on the shy side when it comes to spending time with Jozef. When we get together at a show he tries to make it a point to go to lunch or dinner with us…knowing that we have all traveled a distance to see him skate. I am very content to sit back and listen to everyone’s conversations with Jozef and occasionally I sneak a comment or sentence in when I get up the nerve!! So to tell you about one of my favorite times is even surprising to me that this is the one that I chose to tell about.

Several years ago in 2002 I found out that Jozef was going to be in Findlay Ohio….which is less than an hour from my house. He was going to be skating for the Silver Blades Figure Skating Club. It is a club for the skating students in the area. Since he was going to be so close I HAD to get tickets for all three shows. The first night I went to the show with my sister who also has made several trips to Salt Lake City with me. I was so nervous and excited all at the same time. I was excited to get to see Jozef skate but at the same time I was really nervous because I was going to be the only one from the fan club there. Jozef knew I was going to be there and he had told Deb to let me know that he would look for me in the lobby after each show. There was not going to be any standing back and listening to everyone else’s conversations. I was going to have to do more talking!

When the show was over I made my way down to the ice to say hi . He said he would be right out to the lobby. He came out to the lobby and started to talk and suddenly I wasn’t nervous anymore. Fans came up and asked for his autograph and to get pictures of him standing by them and he was happy to get his picture taken as many times as necessary to fulfill every fan’s dream come true.

I can say that is a weekend that I will always remember. He spent time talking to me one on one and to the people that came with me each night to the show. Jozef is one of the nicest most appreciative people I have ever met. And what a great thrill it is for me to get to know him better each year. We all hope you have many more years of skating ahead of you Jozef!! You will always be our number one figure skater!!! Keep up the great work!!

Elaine