For one life-long curler, preparing a presentation on the history of the Collingwood Curling Club was a trip down memory lane.
Paul Hurst thumbs through a photo album that starts in black and whites and moves into colour shots as he flips the pages.
He points out John S. Dey, owner of Dey’s Automotive, which has recently been purchased and is being converted to house a brew pub.
“John was a great curler and a great person,” said Hurst.
In the same photo is Ted McIntosh, owner of McIntosh Shoes.
“I used to buy my shoes from Ted,” said Hurst.
Then there’s Hurst’s real estate agent and his dentist, also holding the old-fashioned straw curling brooms in the black and white photo taken at the Collingwood Curling Club decades ago.
Hurst was born and raised in Collingwood just down the road from the curling rink. In fact, he’s lived on Minnesota Street since 1944 with the exception of two years on Market Lane.
Some of the photos he’s collected on his own, others belonged to his parents (also members of the club) and another book is on loan from Eileen Chrysler, who has photos dating back to the 1950s.
He’s preparing a talk for the Collingwood and District Historical Society on the history of the Collingwood Curling Club.
“It’s really the history of local people,” said Hurst. “It’s reminiscing back to the history of the club and where we’re at today … to me it brings back lots of memories and good times at the curling club.”
The presentation begins with the formation of the club in 1898, and goes through the history of the three buildings that have housed the Collingwood Curling Club, the different ice makers who worked out the science of the frozen playing field, and the equipment that has changed from straw house brooms to today’s modern (and hairless) brushes and removable hacks.
The stories of the club inevitably centre around the people who have been part of it over the years.
Hurst won his first bonspiel in 1958, at 14 years old, on a team with Roy Brock. At 16, Hurst led the Collingwood Collegiate Institute curling team to a win at the Georgian Bay School Sports Association championships, which included three ten-end games in a day.
“That was a lot of curling in a day,” said Hurst. “But I got my Senior Letter for it.”
Hurst graduated high school and took a job as an office clerk for the Town of Collingwood. He worked his way up to Deputy Clerk Treasurer, then transferred to the Fire Department. He was a firefighter for 27.5 years, and achieved the captain’s rank.
Nearly every year, Hurst was a member of the Collingwood Curling Club.
“I met my wife Donna at the curling club,” said Hurst. Donna came to Collingwood as an RN where she got a job at the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. The two curl together - and in competition with each other - still.
According to Hurst, meeting people and getting to know your neighbours was a big part of being in the Curling Club.
“Sociability was a big part of it,” said Hurst. “Getting together and being competitive … there was no TV back then … this is what we did. There was always a piano at the curling club, someone would bring a violin and someone else would bring a guitar and it was a good time. We also had potlucks and socials.”
The social gatherings didn’t take away from the competitive spirit of the sport. A Collingwood team won the Ontario Tankard (known today as the Brier) in 1913 and again in 1920. The banners still hang in the Collingwood Curling Club. The competition was heavy - since most towns in Ontario had an active curling club at the time, so it was a matter of town pride to win the title.
Hurst says he still loves the competitive aspect of the sport the best. His favourite feeling?
“Naturally, winning trophies and bonspiels,” he said.
While he enjoys the latest equipment and fast, pristine ice conditions, there is something he misses about the old days.
“I used to really be able to sweep with those old corn brooms,” he laughed. He plays skip now, which is the position with the least amount of sweeping duties.
Hurst remains an active curler and volunteer at the Collingwood Curling Club. He’s won an Order of Collingwood and Companion to the Order in the past. He’s served as president of the club, and now serves on the building and ice committee. He says he and the other volunteers will work for “coffee and a cookie,” and they make sure the building is well-maintained and the club is serving the community.
The Collingwood Curling Club now has nearly 600 members with 35 draws a week, including 14 corporate teams, 28 Special Olympians, six wheelchair curlers, and 21 youth members.
He’s helped start a Jitney program, which is a drop-in curling program on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sundays at 1 p.m. You simply sign up and you’ll get added to a team on the day, which makes it a fun way to meet new people, according to Hurst.
Hurst’s presentation on the History of the Collingwood Curling Club and Other Tidbits, takes place at the Leisure Time Club at 100 Minnesota Street. Admission is free with a Collingwood and District Historical Society membership, or $5 for non-members. The presentation is on Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m.
