John Jackson, owner/manager of the Culver Ice Arena since 1982, will be the featured speaker at the Culver City Historical Society April 17 at 7 p.m.
The meeting will take place at the Veteran’s Memorial building’s purpose room at 4117 Overland Ave.
In addition to discussing how the ice arena was created and how hockey and figure skating training developed there, Jackson will share stories about Wayne Gretsky, Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, Michelle Kwan and many local skaters who learned or honed their skills at the facility.
Jackson is a former marine captain; a former football coach at USC, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the University of Illinois; and owner/promoter of Forum Boxing. He served as assistant to Jerry Buss, the former owner of the Lakers basketball team and the Kings hockey team.
Several former local Olympians and professional skating stars who teach at the ice arena will also be on hand at the meeting to share their early experiences as skaters in Culver City, including Cathy Machado (first U.S. Latina Olympian, Olympic medalist, World Professional Ice Skating Champion, U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame); Josselyn Baumgartner (Double National Medalist in figure skating); and Crystalrose Guerra (five-time National Showcase Champion).
All members of the Culver City Historical Society and the public are invited to the free program. The entrance to the multi-purpose room is through the back of the building near the parking lot, and through the Archive & Resource Center space.
For more information, please call the Society at (310) 253-6941, email info@CulverCityHistoricalSociety.org or visit www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org.
