The rocks were sliding and the brooms were furiously sweeping as curling season shifted into gear in Thornbury.
The 6th season of curling at the Beaver Valley Community Centre kicked off for The Blue Mountains Curling Centre on Friday, November 22. A full allotment of curlers flooded onto the ice and filled the four curling sheets for the first day of curling fun and competition.
Events for Life participants and volunteers were running their cafe serving hot coffee and other tasty treats.
“The first day is always a busy day,” said curling centre president, Lloyd Luckock, an avid curler since he was eight years old.
For a number of years, curling – despite a lot of local interest and enthusiasm – had gone dormant in The Blue Mountains. The former curling club (located at what is now the post office in Thornbury) shut down and the popular sport was sidelined.
Six years ago, the The Blue Mountains Curling Centre started curling out of the arena in Thornbury and the club continues to grow and is now bursting at the seams with members.
The Curling Centre offers three sessions of curling: fall, winter and spring. Each session is for five weeks and they curl every Friday morning and afternoon.
The success of re-establishing the sport in The Blue Mountains has members of the Curling Centre dreaming of the days ahead.
In an interview with CollingwoodToday, Luckock said the Beaver Valley Community Centre is bursting at the seams and the town is in need of a new recreation facility to accommodate all of the local activity.
“I’m getting more and more calls. It’s almost daily,” he said. “We’re pretty much at full capacity. The problem is: how do we grow? Hockey and curling need more ice. Very quickly we’d have 400 members.”
Right now the Curling Centre has access to the ice at the arena just one day a week. The club is on the ice from 10 a.m. to noon for morning play, noon to 2 p.m. is practice ice and afternoon play is 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Luckock said with an expanded curling facility the local area would have no trouble attracting significant international tournaments. He also said there are a lot of opportunities in the corporate world as companies hosting retreats locally often look for recreational activities during their time in the community.
“I want to see it grow properly and in the right way,” he said.
Luckock praised the town for its work with the club. He noted that there is time and work involved with switching the ice over from hockey/skating to curling.
“Overall, (the town) does a great job,” he said and he said the opening of the Events for Life Cafe has been a huge benefit for curlers. “They have been great. They have been a big addition for our members.”
The Curling Centre is currently involved with a local fundraising effort to purchase the rocks they use for curling. When the Centre started up, they were provided rocks from the Ontario Curling Association to help the club get established. The club now has the option to purchase the rocks for $19,000.
“Purchasing these rocks will ensure our long-term viability and allow us to continue providing curling as a recreational option for the residents of The Blue Mountains,” said Centre secretary Alar Soever.
The Centre has set up an online fundraising option through the Ontario Sport Network. Anybody interested in donating to the project can visit the webpage here.
Events For Life participants, volunteers and staff were thrilled to have the cafe open for curling.
Now in its third year operating out of the canteen at the arena, the Events For Life Cafe has been a huge success.
“It gets bigger and bigger every year,” said Chandler Perry. “We’re kind of expanding our menu continuously.”
The Cafe is open each day at the arena from Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It opens early on Friday for curling. The Cafe also opens for all Georgian Bay AppleKings games and special events at the arena like Georgian Shores hockey tournaments, figure skating competitions and curling events. The Cafe features a wide selection of lunch items, hot and cold drinks and snacks.
The full story of the Events For Life Cafe can be found here.
