The Power Dodge Curling Club has had a head start on what will be a very busy season.
The curling club hosted a Saskatchewan Curling Tour men’s qualifier event this past weekend, with eight of the top men’s curling teams in the province in Estevan battling for a spot in the 2020 SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial curling championship.
The Ben Gamble rink defeated Shane Vollman’s entry 6-4 in the final.
Ice installation started in late September to get the curling club ready for the season. Randy Laminman is back as the head icemaker. It was warm out when they started, but the ice process came along well.
Estevan Curling Club manager Pauline Ziehl Grimsrud noted that they have a fresh coat of white paint in the walls, creating a very bright look in the building.
A youth clinic will happen on Nov. 17 for ages 10-17. Andrea McEwen, a high-performance coach for Curl Sask, will be the guest coach.
As for bonspiels, the annual youth bonspiel will be Jan. 17 and 18, the doubles bonspiel will be Feb. 14 and 15, the corporate bonspiel will be March 6 and 7, and the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society’s annual open bonspiel will be March 27-29.
Several qualifying events are slated for this year. The Curl Sask. Junior Men’s qualifier will be Nov. 22-24.
The last chance bonspiel for women’s curlers to qualify for the 2020 SaskPower Scotties Tournament of Hearts women’s curling provincial will happen Jan. 3-5, and should bring some top teams to Estevan looking to punch their ticket for provincials.
Men’s and women’s masters provincials will be March 12-15, and will bring 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams over the age of 60 to Estevan.
Some top teams will be in the city for provincials, many of them being names that Ziehl Grimsrud said would be familiar to local fans.
The curling club will also host three weekends of high school curling playdowns in the winter months.
All of the events will be happening at the curling club this year, and they won’t have to rent Affinity Place for the attractions.
League play will include co-op kids curling Sundays, drop-in afternoon curling on Mondays and Wednesdays; youth, competitive and doubles curling on Tuesdays; recreation curling on Wednesdays and the open league on Thursdays.
Ziehl Grimsrud said there is a lot of excitement for the start of curling season.
“We had an excellent signup for the youth at the city wide registration. We’re really pleased with the signup there. We have a few more kids coming in. And then the high school they’ll get ramped up here next week.”
She also reminded the public that they no longer use the north door of the building, and people will always use the south doors, which will be an adjustment, since the north door has been an access point for decades.
Other work is also taking place in the club.
“We’ve been freshening up the lobby. We renovated the bathrooms in the main level so now they’re wheelchair accessible, so it’s great that we got that done.”
