Curling Milestones
It was another milestone for two of our senior curlers last week, as a crew from CJOH television dropped in to feature two of our over-ninety curlers, Dwight Gilmer and Eric Orgee. These men have been athletic all of their lives, and it’s an inspiration to the rest of us to see them still active at this age. Keep going, fellows! Remember, Jim Fraser was well over 100 when he retired. The segment should air Friday night during the sportscast on the early news.
Speaking of Jim Fraser, the final senior men’s draw was completed last week, and the trophy named in Jim’s honour was won by – wait for it – Sid Morrell, along with Len Bellamy, Paul Gunther and John Walsh (who had to drop out early in the draw). Some people have beaten Sid, but not often.
Coming in a close second was another top curler, Don O’Brien, with Raymond Benoit, Gerry Thompson and Charlie Farlinger. Organizer Dave King has set up a fine season for us, and we thank him for this, and for the special events he has also arranged. These include the friendlies, the two-person senior bonspiels and other events.
Our senior men visited Cornwall last week for their final friendly matches of the season. The club can accommodate six teams at once, so three from Winchester joined us against the Cornwall hosts.
It’s always good to renew acquaintances and make new friends at these events, and with about 50 curlers present, there were a lot of them. During conversation at lunch we learned that next year Cornwall’s new curling facility will be completely paid for, with $200,000 in reserve. Not bad for a 134 year-old club!
Now to the bad news: our local fellows lost every match. Winchester fared a bit better, winning one game. For the record, the victims were: Martin Schneckenburger, Rick McKenzie, Fred ‘Boomer’ Langlotz and Steve Thompson; George Rutley, Doug Jarvis, Karl Duncan and Dwight Gilmer; Dave King, Ron Brown, Keith Robinson and Ted Harriman. In spite of our lack of success on the ice, we had a very pleasant day, and look forward to more of these events next year.
Last Friday, two teams of senior men drove to Kingston for their final bonspiel of the year. Jack Barkley, Dave King, Doug Jarvis and George Rutley beat a Perth foursome in the morning, and a Brockville team in the afternoon, finishing second on the ‘B’ side.
Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Herriman defeated Carleton Place in their first match, but had a tougher time in the afternoon against a fine Kingston team. Sid had to tap a rock back in the final end to extend the match, but the rock slid one inch too far. As a result, they finished seventh. Still, they each got a small box of steaks for their trouble – not as big a prize as the steaks Jack and his gang brought home, but excellent prizes all the same.
The fellows had high praise for the Royal Kingston Curling Club. They raved about the beautiful facility, the prizes, and the meal the club put on. It was a fitting end to the season for the men, who, aside from the skins games they’ll play at our club this week, have finished for the season.
Curling in the ladies’ Tuesday afternoon curling and their Wednesday night league have finished, with no winner declared in either case, but a sociable wind-up to their seasons, as usual
The daytime mixed curling on Thursday mornings finishes tomorrow, followed by the usual luncheon and trophy presentation for the ten-team league. Good curling to all!
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