MOOSOMIN — Curling fans may want to mark March 15-24 on their calendar for some national-level curling action. That’s when the Moosomin Curling Club will host the 62nd annual Canadian Fire Fighters Curling Association National Championships.
“It’s going to bring probably 150 to 200 people to this area for about 10 days,” said Dale Nixon, one of the organizers of the event. “It’s going to be exciting.”
Nixon is no stranger to the event, having attended nationals six times in the capacity of Director of Team Saskatchewan and curled at the provincial level around 20 times. Saskatchewan plays host once every 11 years and this is the first time Moosomin has the honour of being the host community.
“The last time it was hosted (in Saskatchewan) was 2010 in Regina,” explained Nixon. “We were supposed to do it in 2021, but Covid kind of put a mess into that a little bit.”
Nixon noted the bid to host the event was made a few years back, around 2018.
“We had to show them what we have for a curling facility and prove we have hotels in the area,” he said.
To qualify for the national competition, teams must first attend the provincial event, which will take place in Prince Albert as that city hosts the Saskatchewan Fire Fighters Curling Association 65th annual Provincial Championship from Feb. 2-4. Nixon said Moosomin does not have a team entered in the provincial event.
A large part of the national curling event is fundraising with local efforts just starting to roll out. Money raised is earmarked on the national level for muscular dystrophy, but also includes projects closer to home such as the Moosomin Fire Department, Parks and Recreation efforts and towards funding a CT scanner.
“There’s lots of good events—there’s meals every night, cabarets every night, all the cabarets are open to the public,” said Nixon, a retired volunteer firefighter with a decade of experience. “All proceeds are going to stay right in this community.”
All draws will be free of charge for the public to come and take in all the excitement.
“It’s good curling,” Nixon said.
