EVERETT – It was a holiday pageant unlike most.
There were disco balls, roller skates and a woman named Eryn Blockabitch.
She was a Grinch, but she didn’t steal Christmas.
With a big heart, she and the rest of the Jet City Rollergirls raised more than $1,000 for the Snohomish County Center for Battered Women Sunday in a fundraiser at the Everett Skate Deck.
“It’s totally what we stand for,” said Blockabitch’s alter ego, Stace Olsen, 31, a Boeing project manager.
She’s a founder of the homegrown, women-only roller-derby league where each player assumes a tongue-in-cheek nickname for the rough-and-tumble sport.
There’s Blockabith, Blondie Bomb-her, Nelly Ol-sinned and Suzi Nine-mm. And Sassy Pants, the good but bad girl who Sunday was doing a bit more good than bad, said Cheryl Morris, 29, of Edmonds.
They always dress up when they compete, but Sunday their outfits were more seasonal than normal.
“It’s fun for the kids,” said Bomb-her, AKA Kim Magana, 36.
Dressed as Mrs. Claus, she was getting ready to teach a few lessons before putting on an exhibition derby bout.
Most of the time the rollergirls are raising money for themselves. Next September, they hope to put on a show at the Everett Events Center, Olsen said. This was the first time they took a break to help out in the community.
For Kristin Fender, 29, helping raise money for the women’s shelter was especially meaningful.
Dressed as the Abominable Snowgirl, Fender said it wasn’t long ago that she had to rely on food banks and lived in a shelter herself.
A mother at 17, she said she put herself through college, is now a technical writer, and, as of a few months ago, is part of the Jet City squad.
Competing in the fast-paced bout is thrill enough, but helping women less fortunate was something else altogether.
“I spent a lot of time on the receiving end, so to be on the other side is really big,” she said.
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