Submitted by Janice Sim
The Lion’s Head Curling Club sold out Bonspiel on January 10 was sponsored by Miller Lake RONA. The club is very appreciative of this long-time (over 40 years) sponsorship of curling on the Peninsula. They provided a delicious lunch, prizes and a whole day of fun for the curling club.
After lunch we had our usual “Turkey Shoot” where we have a decorated rock at the middle of the ice surface and participants purchase and shoot rocks in the hope that when all the dust is settled, their rock will be closest to the “Turkey” and win the prize. This year we donated the proceeds of this event, $260.00, to the Food Bank. Dave McInnis showed great skill (or luck) when his rock was declared closest to the turkey after the last shot. He took home a gift basket from The Shops at 84 Main.
Our third draw started on Monday, January 5 with games at 4pm and 7pm. We would have finished the draw on the last Monday of January but the weather on January 19th forced us to cancel curling so our last night of Draw 3 was on February 2. The winning teams were presented with gift certificates to Bear Tracks or Home Hardware.
On February 9th we were pleased to have Marty Thompson, a Curling Canada teaching professional (and Lion’s Head native) attend our club for a sold out clinic. He shared techniques to improve our game such as stick and regular rock delivery and sweeping principles including speed, pressure and directional sweeping. This was a very informative clinic and all those who attended were glad they did. Marty has made a career of curling but it all started in Lion’s Head Arena when he was a young lad.
Draw 4 is now underway so with the break for Family Day we will finish on March 9. The fact that we will have had enough participants to fill two time slots the whole season says something about the appeal of curling or has Florida sunshine lost its appeal?
We have one more Bonspiel on February 28 that is being sponsored by Ashley Jackson, REMAX Realty. When the Bonspiels and the Draws are done it’s time to put winter behind us and think Spring!
