Page 6 March 4, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
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* 3 bedroom 1 bath
* Updated kitchen
* Enclosed Patio Room
* Laundry Room
635 LOMITA ST
$1,295,000
ESTABLISHED 1980
361 MAIN ST, EL SEGUNDO
310.322.0066
KIRK@KIRKBROWNREALTY.COM
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• 745 Main Street, El Segundo, top floor corner unit, recessed lighting, new bathroom and
more! Priced to sell at $739,000
F O R L E A S E i n E L S E G U N D O
• 227 W Palm - Beautiful townhome, front corner unit. 2 bed/2.5 bath, great location. $3,250
• 1653 E Maple - Ground flr, close to freeways, stores, schools. 2 bed/1 bath. $2,100
• 328 Standard Street - 2 bed/1 bath, new plank flooring, great location $2,200
• 746 Sierra Street - large 3 bed/2 bath home, garage, great location. $4,500
• 320 Standard Street - Townhome style 2 bed/2 bath. Patio. $2,595
• 227 Sierra Street - Large 1 bedroom, plank flooring, garage, washer/dryer. $2.250
Considering selling?
Prices are at an all time
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Kirk Brown Jr • DRE# 01359453
Kirk Brown • DRE# 00556073
FOR SALE
HOME WANTED
4 bedroom home in El
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Richard Ewell from page 2
Ewell worked on improving his compulsory
figures and his free skate program and soon made
it to his first national competition in January of
1969, but was still lacking in racking-up points
with his compulsory figures. The next year,
Ewell was still working with Fairbanks, but
had also started collaborating with a renowned
skating coach, Englishman John Nicks. When
Ewell went to the nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
the association with Nicks clicked, with Ewell
capturing his first national title.
For a couple of years, Ewell skated in pair’s
competitions with partner Michelle McCladdie,
another Fairbanks protégé. The duo captured
the junior national pairs crown in 1972 in the
competition that was held in Long Beach.
Soon, Ewell and McCladdie decided to turn
pro and joined the Ice Capades. McCladdie only
lasted on the circuit for two years, wearying of
the constant travel and off-kilter hours. But for
Ewell, he was thriving, because he was “doing
what I loved to do. Skate. I would have skated
until my legs fell off.”
Ewell said that skating with a partner requires
precise synchronization and that mistakes made
by the team are more noticeable to the judges,
while skating singles allows a little more room
for improvisation. He related a story about a
singles competition in Tulsa, that when he came
out of his solo spin, he got turned around and
exited the spin heading in the wrong direction
on the sheet of ice. He completed his program
and wasn’t aware that he had made a miss-step
until he was preparing to exit the ice when a
security guard quietly pointed-out to Ewell
that he was trying to exit at the completely
wrong end of the ice.
Ewell spent 12 years with the Ice Capades,
the first Black soloist performing with the
company. “So much happens in twelve years,”
Ewell said, noting “falls, costume malfunctions,
splitting of the pants while doing a splitjump...”
Ewell estimates that during his Ice
Capades tenure, he was performing somewhere
in the neighborhood of 325-350 yearly shows,
sometimes dodging wayward balloons and
rolled-up snow cone cups chucked onto the
ice by mischievous youngsters.
After his Ice Capades career concluded in
1984, “I was very fortunate to have lasted that
long,” Ewell said. He took a year off from skating,
biding his time working as a bartender with
Denny’s restaurant chain. He looked-up his old
coach John Nicks, who saw that Ewell still had
his skating chops, and counseled him to hookup
with the European version of Holiday on
Ice, a gig that lasted for the next eight years.
Next, Ewell started his teaching career at a
rink in Anaheim, which lasted for thirteen years.
On being a trailblazer in the somewhat insular
surroundings of ice-skating some 50 years
ago, Ewell said, “I think that I was treated pretty
ºfairly. There were times that I wasn’t.” But he
thinks that because he was closely scrutinized, it
helped him sharpen his skating talents because
he was always under the microscope. “I knew
if I won something, like Nationals, I must have
done well, really earned it because (the judges)
weren’t going to give that (award) away.”
As a youth, Ewell attended Hamilton High
School, and because of the vagaries of the
schedules inherent in pursuing a skating career,
he popped in-and-out of junior college, until
he put schooling “on hold” and then landed
the job with the Ice Capades.
Ewell moved to El Segundo in 1999, prompted
by his wife at the time, Viera, who was the one
who contacted the Herald about this profile. “I
have just loved El Segundo since we moved
here,” Ewell said.
Ewell has two sons, Kail and CJ, currently
a freshman at El Segundo High School. Ewell
said that his current hobbies include “losing
weight” and, as a 70+-year-old man, trying to
stay a step ahead of the COVID-19 virus. A
big football fan (Rams/Patriots), Ewell said
that he was in a quandary this football season
about whether his allegiance was to the Patriots
or to some quarterback named Tom Brady.
He decided his allegiance was to Brady, even
though most of his sporting merch is imprinted
with the Patriot logo.
Ewell continues to teach figure skating,
working in Torrance. And, according to former
student, and current skating coach Stephanie
Horton, it is to skating’s benefit that Ewell still
glides over the frozen ice, dispensing coaching
nuggets and life-lessons.
Horton said that when she started working
with Ewell, she had “terrible technique.”
Over the next sixteen years, Ewell was able
to straighten out some of her technique flaws.
“He has been like a second father to me,” she
said. “He was not just a coach, but became a
family member,” attending students birthdays
and investing in his students, on-and-off the
ice. “I learned a lot of life-skills from Richard.”
Pam Hanley’s son Josh was a beneficiary of
Ewell’s on-ice tutelage. She said that before
one 20-minute lesson with Ewell, Josh was
“the worst skater in the boy’s group. After
one 20-minute lesson with Richard, he became
the best skater in that group.” Said Hanley:
“Richard is extremely personable, the (was)
the perfect coach for my son.”
Danielle Ugarte coached with Ewell at what
is now the Toyota Sports Performance Center
in El Segundo. She has known Ewell for more
than 35 years. “He is a very talented skater
and wonderful coach,” she said. He is “very
generous” in sharing information with the other
coaches and noted that Ewell continued to
excel in launching jumps and spinning spins.
As we wrapped-up our 35-minute phone
interview, Ewell related that the interview went
“great!” saying that “I don’t go out of my way
to do interviews. I have always been a little
shy. When I have to put myself out there, I
panic every time.”
Well, as a trailblazing figure skater and
beloved coach and father, it seems that Ewell
has done a pretty good job of harnessing his
perceived panic attacks. •
Ewell and Teammate attending a Competition in France.
Ewell With Friends on the L.A Kings Ice Girls Squad
DeAnn Eccles | 310.488.0098
deannw@att.net CA BRE# 01168044
REMAX Estate Properties
* Hardwood floors
* Central Heating & AC
* Large backyard
* Lot 6588 sqft
* In Escrow *
7 offers! I can sell yours
too! Call me today!
310.322.SOLD
R E C E N T S A L E S . . .
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EL SEGUNDO FAMILY FOR 5 GENERATIONS
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