Submitted by Janice Sim,
Lions Head and District Curling Club
At 8:30am on January 7, curlers began gathering at the Lion’s Head Arena to start the day with coffee and snacks. With 5 sheets of ice in play and 10 teams, the RONA sponsored Bonspiel got underway at 9:30. Competition was fierce and shouts of sweep, hurry hard and “that was a TV shot” and resounding rock strikes could be heard throughout the arena. After 8 ends we took a break and enjoyed a delicious lasagna lunch provided by RONA. The morning game points were tallied and opposing teams appointed for the afternoon games.
After lunch we were able to show off our curling skills by trying to curl as close as possible to a specially marked stone at the middle of the ice surface. Of course even the most skilled curler’s stone could be knocked away or the special stone could be moved closer to anyone else’s stone. There were cheers followed by sad moans as our fortunes rose and fell. When all the stones had been thrown our judges determined that George Hambleton’s rock was the closest and he was the winner of a $50 gift certificate to LCBO.
The Rotary Club provided bar services throughout the day and winning teams gallantly provided solace to losing teams.
At the end of the second game we gathered in the lounge and awaited the results of the day’s curling efforts. In 1st place was the team of Lindsay de Malmanche, Arran de Malmanche, Sandy Walsh and Betty Hastings. 2nd place went to Kim Pitblado, Kathy Hellyer, Coralie Jacobi and Catherine Cole. The team skipped by Chris Mawdsley came in third with Chris, Allan Jones and Graham and Barb Elder.
The day ended with a presentation of prizes provided by RONA. Miller Lake RONA, as RONA, Timbermart and Robbins Brothers, has sponsored a Bonspiel for the curling club every year for more than 35 years and we are very grateful for their ongoing support of our club. As we were reminiscing, our favorite skip, Doug Hill, said that he has been curling in Lion’s Head every winter for over 50 years.
Our next bonspiel is February 11. Call or text Betty Hastings at 416-805-5830 to register a team or to join a team and then come out and have a great time. We also have one more draw in our regular season starting February 6 and would welcome anyone to sign up for the draw or as a spare.
