SPORTS

Family On Ice

The Tarnows stop clowning when they talk about skating.

NEAL ZIPSER

Special to The Jewish News

c

overed with protective
equipment and a hel-
met, Tami Tarnow ven-
tured onto the ice skating
rink when she was 2 years
old.
Instead of spending her free
time sitting in front of the
television, Tami, now 12 and
the youngest of five children,
spends her time at the
Berkley Ice Arena hoping to
eventually reach her goal of
attending Harvard Universi-
ty on a skating scholarhip.
Success on the ice is
nothing new to the Tarnows.
All four girls have won
medals, awards, and current-
ly star in the Berkley Ice
Show. The show, running May
3-5 at the Berkley Ice Arena,

is entitled "All Through the
Night" and features scenes
about what could happen at
night.
The show begins with a
night out on the town, con-
tinues with getting ready for
bed, and then to a series of
scenes depicting dreams, the
moon and the stars.
The Tarnows and 100 area
skaters have worked since
February on the show.
Robyn, the oldest of four
girls, helps teach other
skaters in the show and
serves as a publicist and cor-
eographer. The teaching
comes naturally for the
21-year-old, who attends
Oakland Unviersity and ma-
jors in elementary education.
"I enjoy teaching skating
because you can teach people
that if you fall down, you just
get up and try again. It's a

.

good lesson for life," she said.
Robyn demonstrated her
philosophy when she fell
while teaching a skating
move. It resulted in a broken
arm. "The children thought it
was funny to see the teacher
fall," she said.
Robyn said the sisters have
never felt "burned out" from
skating and have never been
pressured by their parents.
"Our parents gave us a lot
of choices of what to do when
we were younger," Robyn said.
"I was involved in tap, jazz,
guitar and some other things,
but I liked skating the most."
Their father, Bob Tarnow,
has played hockey in
Southfield for 26 years.

The Tarnows:
Tami, Jaimi, Robyn, Sara,
Kathy and Bob.

Brother Jon, 23, followed in
Bob's skates for six years.
Jaimi, 18, appeared in her
first ice show when she was 4.
She will solo in the first seg-
ment of the Berkley Ice Show
and will play the girl falling
asleep to begin the night
scenes.
"By skating so much, I
think I have suffered a little
bit in some social aspects, but
that was the choice I made!"
Jaimi said.
While many of Jaimi's
senior classmates at Bir-
mingham. Groves High School
deliberate what college to at-
tend, Jaimi plans to take a
year off from school and tour
with the Ice Capades.
"I have a contract sitting in
my room now and all I have
to do is sign it and send it
back," Jaimi said. Her father
thinks "it's great as long as

she eventually gets her
schooling in. She has worked
long and hard hours to get
this far. You are only young
once and I think she should
give it a try, as long as she
sends some money home!'
Traveling is nothing new to
Jaimi. Two years ago she
spent a month skating in
Australia.
Sara, 16, solos in a"Lullaby
of Broadway" scene in the ice
show. She agrees with her
older sisters that they haven't
missed out on any of their
youth by skating.
"I have had the time to do
whatever I have wanted to
do," Sara said. She has also
felt the pain of what can hap-
pen on the ice. In 6th grade,
she fell in the middle of a
routine and broke her wrist.
Unaware of the fracture, she
got up and finished.