Off the Broom: Kincardine hosts first bonspiel of the year!

The second session of this year’s curling has now been completed.

For the second straight year, we had to postpone curling for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Draws were pushed back and got under way a few weeks late.

Monday night winners were Dave Guppy, Dave Pope, and Ron and Marla Chapleau. Tuesday competitive looks like Les Shane and Peter Newton were again the top teams. Wednesday mixed doubles saw Mark Luckhardt and Carolyn Norman rise to the top. Thursday night winner was the team of Anne Burton, Don Turcotte, Tania Dickson and Martina Aisenpreis.

The Ontario Tankard was recently held in Port Elgin, and Team Glenn Howard advanced to the Tim Horton Brier which has just finished up in Lethbridge. There were many local curlers who volunteered their time as scorekeepers, timers, kitchen workers, ticket sellers and other jobs which made the week and the work go smoothly. Thanks Kincardine curlers, for stepping up.

Attending the Groundhog Bonspiel in Wiarton, were the foursome of Doug and Shelley Dechene and Dan and Jenny Showalter. By all reports, they had a great time.

Maurice Wilson put on another refresher clinic as well as a stick clinic recently. It was well-attended and we are thankful we have such a knowledgeable curler, coach and instructor as a member of our club.

How exciting to host our first bonspiel of the year—except for the fact that it was on the date of a major blizzard. Some out-of-town teams were unable to make it and the phones were buzzing trying to round up people to fill in. The early draw winning team was the threesome of Dan Norman, Bob Urie and Glenn Hedley. The late draw had co-winners, with both teams hailing from  Georgetown - Craig Urie, Tracy Bonifacio, Craig Ellis and Michelle Brown, and Kevin Brown, Helga Urie, Archie Bonifacio and Jill Ellis.

And what is it with bonspiels and blizzards? Our men’s spiel, sponsored by Miller Insurance, was held Saturday, March 12, and again the weather was frightful. This time around, all out-of-town teams were able to attend and the bonspiel went off without a hitch. The early draw winner and overall winner for the day was the Kincardine team of Peter Newton, Mike Bunker, Tim Church and Steve Palmer. The late draw winners were also local curlers - Brian MacEachern, Bill Brown, Doug Dechene and Bob Inglis.



The overall winner of the Kincardine Men’s Bonspiel, Saturday, was the team of Steve Palmer (left), Tim Church and Peter Newton, along with Mike Bunker (absent); photo courtesy of Anne Burton

The guys were treated to homemade lasagna and pies which were compliments of Dan and Jenny Showalter and Shelley Dechene. And as always, a big thank you has to go to our volunteer workers for without your help, these events could not happen. It was good to see the McFadyens back again — I believe one or more teams from this family have attended our men’s spiel for so many years it is hard to remember. It was also nice to see several participants who were members of our club back in their years of junior curling!

Our ladies bonspiel is set to go March 26. So far, 14 teams have registered to take part.