ESTEVAN - The sound of curling rocks and brooms replaced skates and hockey sticks at the Alameda Rink for the community’s 48-rink bonspiel.
The hockey ice was converted to curling ice from Thursday to Sunday for an event that wrapped up the ice sports season in Alameda. Janelle Farnden, who co-chaired the committee alongside Bonnie Thompson, said the bonspiel brought lots of curling and it was a good fundraiser.
“We had a tonne of people just out from the community. Everybody’s been ready to get out and get together. It was almost like a reunion after COVID, so it was nice to see everybody and hear some laughter and get some people out on the curling ice,” said Farnden.
There hasn’t been curling ice in Alameda for the past couple of years due to issues with pumps, so some of the curlers had to shake off their rust.
In past years, the bonspiel has attracted 64 teams, but because they didn’t have access to the curling rink, they limited the entries to 48.
“When we started planning this again, we were still in COVID restrictions back in January, so we weren’t sure what the restrictions (were going to be), so we thought 48 would be a little safe to play with numbers-wise,” said Farnden.
Teams played eight-end games.
A 64-rink bonspiel was supposed to happen in March 2020, but they had to pull the plug a week before the gathering due to restrictions that were just coming into place.
The winner of the A final was Alex Huish of Carnduff, whose rink defeated Shane Kitz of Oxbow 8-5. The game was tied 5-5 entering the final end, but Huish scored three.
The B event went to Liam Rutten of Alameda, who knocked off Alaina McKinnon in the final. And Darren Elliot won the C final over Tye Olson.
They had a variety of curlers ranging from those who play regularly to those who haven’t played since the last 64-rink bonspiel in 2015.
“We had a couple of young kids who were probably … nine or 10 years old, just ready to learn,” said Farnden. “People that haven’t curled in seven or eight years just dusted off the brooms, so that was kind of nice to see. And that’s usually what we get is a wide variety of people, just ready to come out and play the sport they love and see people and mingle.”
There was also one of curling’s great feats pulled off during the weekend, as Lindsay Huish, Hayley Huish, Cassie Carriere and Rachelle Apperley scored a perfect eight in one end.
Teams came from Alameda, Oxbow, Carnduff, Estevan, Lampman and other communities.
Since they had so much organized two years ago, it made for less work for this year’s bonspiel, but it was still a busy weekend. The crew that organized the last event in 2015 also did it this year, so everyone was familiar with what needed to happen.
“We had an amazing crew of volunteers. We had a lot of people step up in all areas, whether it was helping to put in the ice or in the kitchen. There was no lack of support or hands to help. So it went really well over the weekend. It wasn’t a really high-stress weekend,” said Farnden.
The tournament had a great social element, with curlers and other visitors there from breakfast at 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. when the rink closed. People were excited to see each other and catch up with those they haven’t seen in more than two years.
Conversations happened on Sunday night regarding when they can do it again, and ice-maker James Gordon said he would be eager to help out when they do it again.
Proceeds of the tournament will be directed to the Alameda Recreation Board for sports and recreation upgrades and programs.
