From the Hack
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Nora Peter - FROM THE HACK
Just as January and February are months for lots of bonspiel activity in the club March is the month for championship play as all sections are now into their final draws with teams looking for the right to have their names etched on that Club Championship trophy.
I think often at this time of year those of us (like myself) who have been watching games on TV get inspired to try what I will call a 'TV shot' though the results may not always be the same.
The Mixed Monday draw has 10 teams challenging for the Scotiabank trophy and are playing six-end games until the final night March 30 when they will return to eight-end games having eliminated two teams on their points. The Tuesday Evening Ladies are into a full round robin playing for the ServiceMaster trophy and will finish on March 31. The Thursday Afternoon Women will finish March 26 with a morning draw and a potluck lunch to complete their play for the Bert Mooney trophy. The Men’s Thursday night will finish on the 26th as well with their Steak dinner night. Wonder who will be washing dishes this year?
There are a few things coming up in the club however the first being the Past President’s Bonspiel for all the ladies in the club this Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. with a morning warm-up and then six ends of curling and lunch and then six more ends of curling. Many of the past presidents of the Ladies executive support and attend this bonspiel. Some will be curling and others will join for lunch and to watch the games on the ice. Last I heard they were still looking for four people to fill it, but maybe they found them in Rec.
Speaking of women, we need to congratulate the Glendale High School Girls Curling team who won both WOSSAA games to advance to OFSSAA for the first time since 2001. The girls did well finishing 3rd in their pool (2-2). This is an excellent finish for their first time at OFSSAA and especially since the girls playing front end are all new to curling. Well done girls, we’re proud of you.
Paul Belcher sent the info on the last Men’s draw as Greig Manson with Brian Clark, Paul Belcher and various leads edged the Randy DeClercq foursome to take the draw on points. Teams for the Championship round were made up at the conclusion of the draw. The Men will conclude their draw on March 26 with their steak barbeque..
The fundraising Murder Mystery Dinner comes up on April 11th and according to the three e-mails I’ve received, they still need 3-4 volunteers to serve appetizers and help with dinner, also silent auction items, and there are about 15 dinner tickets still available (but they are going quickly).
I’m looking forward to this night and have already reserved my table with friends so why not get a group together and have some fun. I also learned from the e-mails received that money from this fundraiser will go towards replacing our roof. Let’s do our bit as a membership and support this cause!
On the bonspiel trail, the team of Tina VanderWallen-Howey, Diane Burgess, Yonna DiLella, and Sandy Buchner were at a two-day bonspiel at the London Curling Club where they won the Mykonos Restaurant trophy. Wendy Young and her team also were at this spiel where they won the CanAm R V trophy for their draw.
The Rec League like the other leagues in the club have moved into their championship mode but because they have 22 teams and some great long-standing sponsors they have three pools playing for three different trophies. I have always liked this format that slots teams into trophy play based on their full season points and allows each team the opportunity to win a division at their own level of play so older more experienced teams play each other and the new teams are playing teams of their own caliber.
In the Tillsonburg Travel Event Big Rocks ended the season in first place which is no surprise as even though they have just come back to the Rec League they are still a good team and have always been competitive. Mixed Bags are right behind them in the standings (and they should be with a WOSSAA champ on their team) After two games in the playoff round it seemed there is still a chance with a win on the 3rd game that teams will advance to the finals.
In the Copper Mug Event, divided into two pools, Sheet Stains and On the Rocks in the one pool and Sweep This and Rock U in the other Pool have a great chance of making it through to the final trophy round as not many points separate the teams.
In the Domino’s Pizza round the Rockin Rain Makin Rebels are in first place well ahead of the rest of the pack... not sure if they can maintain that edge for one more game. In behind them are several teams all within .75 points of each other who could overtake the Rainmakers with one good game.
The final night for wing and pizza night for Rec League happens March 27 when the top teams in each trophy event will play off, along with two teams in the Consolation Event. All teams are expected at the final night for the wings and pizza which is paid for by the 50/50 money being collected all season. With the season over it’s time to party a little!
Good luck to all curlers in your championships, curling rocks!