Figure skaters pop in and out of the American consciousness in four-year cycles, surfacing glamorously for the Olympics on gleaming skates and shimmering ice as instant heroes, only to disappear two weeks later into a morass of Ice Capades, Dino Martin and short'n'-sassy commercials.

Though the Fusco brothers, Greg Olson, et al might disagree, on Friday and Saturday more grace will flood the Bright Hockey Center than the rink has seen all winter. World silver medalist Dave Santee, U.S. pairs champs Kitty and Peter Carruthers, and several other world-class skaters will convene there for the twelfth annual Evening of Champions.

Organized in 1970 by Harvard junior and later U.S. men's skating silver medalist John Misha Petkevitch '71. An Evening With Champions is a benefit for the Jimmy Fund, the fund-raising branch of the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

While visiting Children's Memorial Hospital for a routine knee examination, Petkevitch was motivated to create the show by the sight of the many cancer-stricken children. "Skaters spend their time skating around in circles hour after hour without really doing very much for others. I wanted a chance to help those who are not so well off," Petkevitch, now an Eliot House tutor, said.

The show has drawn big-name skaters over the years, including Dorothy Hamill, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, and John Curry. From being patched together in ten days by Petkevitch alone in 1970, it has turned into a full-scale operation with a crew of more than 30 Eliot House volunteers. It has raised close to $250,000 for the Jimmy Fund since its inception.

The prestige the exhibition has gained has made it easier to invite and get many of the top titlists after each year's national and world championships. "It's known as the one show that brings the largest number of top stars in North America together," Petkevitch says.

This year's participants include Santee, the Carruthers, Olympic silver medalist Toller Cranston, and U.S. women's champ Elaine Zayat.

Home Team

Several Harvard skaters will join the lineup: seniors Lisa Griffin and Marlene Rehkamp, Charlie Hagedorn '82, and Rob Faulkner '84.

An Evening With Champions hits the ice Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 8 p.m.