When: Saturday, December 9, 5 to 7 PM
Where: Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St.
What: Two hours of roller skating skills and roller derby drills
Who: All levels of roller skater, full safety gear required
Why: Because it’s awesome
How much: $7

Get ready for a special seasonal treat! This week, special guest coach Pie Voltage will be on hand to make Minced Meat pies of you all. Delicious, delicious mincemeat. Pie has been training for these week’s session at home in Australia, where she consumed as many meat pies as she possibly could. (And that’s a lot.)

Some of you may know Pie as Coach Drop Bear. She is one of the original organizers of Raw Meat, and she currently plays for the TCRG’s Faster Pussycats.

Do behave! She may be Pie Voltage now, but I hear that Drop Bears spring out of the trees when you least expect it!

PLEASE NOTE: Next week, Dec. 15, Raw Meat will run from 7-9 pm because of special events at Thunderbird. There is no Raw Meat session on Dec. 22 or Dec. 29, but we’ll be back on January 5 from 5-7 as usual. If you are looking for skating on Dec. 22 or 29, check out the public skate at Central City Arena (right by Surrey Central Skytrain Station) from 8-10 pm.

What you’ll learn at Raw Meat Vancouver Roller Skating:

We’ll cover the basics of roller skating, including stops, falls, agility drills, skating form, roller skating in proximity with others, a few fun tricks, and some (non-contact) roller derby strategy drills.

All levels of roller skater, including beginners, are welcome. We’ll help beginners learn to skate, and give more advanced skaters some fun drills and games.

What to bring:

You must have roller skates, and all safety gear: knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet, and mouth guard. The venue also requires everyone to use white or light-coloured, non-marking toe stoppers. If your knee pads are black, please cover them with white, non-marking hockey tape. Vertical strips of tape work best. Sessions are $7, and take place every Saturday from 5-7 at 2311 Cassiar St.

The rules:

Raw Meat has two rules: 1. Be Safe, 2. Don’t be an asshat. All sessions are non-contact.