Great opening week at the curling club
Article content
Nora Peter - From the Hack
The Tillsonburg Curling Club had a great opening week introducing many new people to the club and the game of curling.
Bill and Wendy Young along with other club members were on hand all week giving instruction on the ice. New curlers received enough instruction to make them safe on the ice along with how to deliver the rock. A full curling skills clinic will be scheduled for further development of the basic skills of the game. We are excited to have so many new people trying curling!
Lots of people took advantage of Intro Week to get signed in and try out the ice but if you missed out you can get info about the draws and conveners to call by going on-line to www.tillsonburgcurlingclub.com. The club provides something for everyone: Juniors (7-14), Students (14-21), both Afternoon and Evening Ladies, Men’s, Mixed and a Recreational League which is a fun, social league where teams could be made up of men, women or a mix of both. There is also a Senior Men’s League which operates in the club George McCune (688-2197) is the contact person for this group that curls three times a week.
Curling is a great winter sport available right here in your community. Try it.
The season was kick-started with the Annual ‘Swing and Sweep’ event with 36 people playing 11 holes of fun golf which included a closest to the pin hole, a 50-50 hole and No. 8 fairway even had a curling house painted on it for closest to the button shots. Diane Kleer and Paul Belcher were closest to the pin winners and Mona DeMarchais and Jerry Hetherington closest to the button winners.
After a quick lunch the golfers became curlers heading out on the ice for nine ends of curling. Some of the participants told me this was quite a workout and they really felt those first time curling ‘aches’ by the end of the game! Apparently the on ice game included a few fun surprises and ended with a “short end”. The golfers turned curlers were treated to a perch dinner and then prizes were awarded. The organizers threw one more twist into the day having the teams roll the dice to see if they were a golf team or a curling team.
Prizes were then awarded to the top golf team and the top curling team. Prizes were also given to the most honest golf and curling teams. Prizes for the event were donated by the Bridges at Tillsonburg, Sobey’s, Delhi Golf and Country Club and Tillsonview Fairways.
Our Recreational League completed Intro week with their opening Wing and Pizza night on Friday. A number of new curlers signed in and though some of the ‘old’ teams have dropped out the league has gained five or six new teams this year which will keep the two nights (Wed/Fri) going strong. League play begins Wednesday and Friday this week. The Broom Raffle was won by Doug Crosset and the opening night 50-50 was won by Darryl Malcolm (he assures me his granddaughter drew his ticket and she wasn’t coached).
Just a couple of reminders to everyone: the Plan B equipment shop is open again with all your curling needs, you must pay your membership before you play, NO street shoes on the ice and make sure you’ve cleaned your broom! See you on the ice, curling rocks!