Submitted by Castlegar Curling Club
Many local men’s curling teams along with teams from Trail, Nelson, Rossland, Fruitvale, and Creston competed recently in the Groundhog Curling Bonspiel, Feb. 2-4 at the Castlegar Curling Club. A total of 28 teams started at 4 p.m. on Friday and at times played late into the night on Saturday to get to the finals on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, a potential disaster was averted when the ice plant sprang a leak. As coolant was leaking out, the ice sheets got warmer. If left unchecked, the ice would have been ruined, putting an end to the bonspiel. Luckily, signs of the potential disaster were detected and Myron Nichol and his team jumped into action and were able to make temporary fixes.
In the A event finals, Team McKenzie of Castlegar defeated Team Bressanutti who curl out of Fruitvale. In an all Castlegar B event finals, it came down to final rock before Team Horning triumphed over Team Small. The C and D finals were also very close contests. Castlegar’s own Team Nichol defeated the Culter foursome of Nelson in the C final and in the D final Team Marsh from Nelson prevailed over Team May of Castlegar.
The success of the Groundhog comes from all of the volunteering by the men’s curling club executive, the lady’s club who tended bar and prepared the dinner, the retiree’s club who tended to the ice and kept the place clean. Major sponsors included VH Sport, Pharmasave, Safeway, FYI doctors, and Grant Thornton Financial Services.
A event winners: Skip - James McKenzie, Third - Rob Kwan, Second - Reece Whitehead, Lead - Brad Hildebrand.
B event winners: Skip - Deane Horning, Third - Patty, Second - Reece Whitehead, Lead - Brad Hildebrand.
C event winners: Skip - Myron Nichol, Third - Steve Cartwright, Second - Tom Trubetskoff, Lead - Randy Veitch.
D event winners: Skip - Barry March, Third - Brent Pihowich, Second - Tim Miller, Lead - Dave Kabatoff.
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