62nd Tillsonburg Tobacco Belt Bonspiel
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Bill Young - Tillsonburg Curling Club
The 62nd annual Tobacco Belt Men’s Bonspiel was held at the Tillsonburg Curling Club, Jan. 15-17. Local and surrounding area teams engaged in friendly but intense competition for cash prizes.
There was a lot happening with prize draws sponsored by BDA Insurance, Sobeys, and DeGroote Hill GM, and a shuffleboard curling tournament. The shuffleboard is new, and judging from the boisterous competition it was a hit. Les Peter’s rink was knocked out of the curling on Sunday morning, but went on to win the shuffle curl tournament.
Keeping the men well fed is a big part of the bonspiel; we had lots of tasty items and the feedback from curlers was positive. Our food sponsors were Inovata Foods, M&M Meats, the Belcher Family, Kelsey’s, and Paul and Josie DeCloet. A number of local businesses are also involved as team sponsors. Thank you, all.
When the preliminary games were finished and the smoke cleared, Dave Ireland’s local lads were squared off against the Scott Ferguson rink from Highland CC in the Sobeys “A” final. Scott started a little stronger than Dave and was leading 5-2 after six ends. Dave stole one in the seventh and was coming home down two without the hammer. Dave tried hard to get rocks hidden, but Scott’s team hit well and ran Dave’s crew out of rocks.
The Country 107.3 Easy 101 “B” final saw Barry Wade, London CC, against Mike Corby, Ilderton CC. Mike and team were dominant, leading 5-1 after four ends. Barry surrendered after six.
Travis Fanset, Tburg CC, played off against Joel Moore’s rink from Highland CC (last year's “A” winner) in the East Elgin Concrete Forming “C” final. This was a close game, 5-4 after four with Joel leading. Tied coming home, Travis made the draw to the button to sit one and win.
Last but certainly not least was the Town of Tillsonburg “D” final with two local teams battling it out. Randy Declercq’s rink started slightly stronger, 4-2 after four over Greig Manson’s crew. Randy took five in the sixth to lead 9-4. Greig did not give up, taking two in the seventh, coming home down three without hammer. The eighth end had lots of rocks in play with good shots from both sides. Greig had rocks buried for Randy’s first shot. He ticked the guard, and rolled away. Grieg was left with three counters in play, enough to tie.
Randy must now make a tricky bump back to win the game with his last shot. Here it comes... he makes it! Great game. In fact, all the final games were exciting and entertaining, much to the delight of the many spectators.
We would like to thank all our sponsors, and all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.