By Craig Baird
Curling has always been a big part of Canadian life, going back over 100 years. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, clubs were popping up across the prairies as settlers looked to find ways to get together, compete in a friendly manner and have some fun.
In Yorkton, the very first curling club debuted in 1897 with 16 members curling on one sheet of ice at the corner of Betts Avenue and Smith Street. In 1898, the club became affiliated with the Manitoba Branch of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. For the next couple of years, the clubs would curl together in competitions before the Yorkton Curling Club folded around 1901.
In 1905, Yorkton was booming but the community had no rink for curling, let alone skating or hockey. This meant no prospect for competition during the long winter months. In August of 1905, plans were put in place to build a rink that would accommodate all three winter sports. Work began quickly and in December of 1905, the skating area of the Crystal Skating and Curling Rink opened, with the curling rink itself opening one month later on Jan. 13, 1906. The curling rink consisted of one sheet of curling ice on each side of the skating area. Two dressing rooms were located on the ground floor, and a bandstand, along with two rooms, was set up on the top floor.
In 1908, the Yorkton Curling Association Ltd. Was set up with $5,000 in capital stock. That year, the club began curling in a new three-sheet facility on Agricultural Avenue. The new facility included three waiting rooms downstairs, and a gallery upstairs.
In 1919, following the First World War, a new rink was built on South Front Street at Tupper Avenue, costing $17,400 to build. The rink would be used heavily for the next 10 years before a fire broke out during a bonspiel, damaging the rink, resulting in five sheets becoming unusable for the bonspiel. Repairs were made and the rink was used until 1948. At the final bonspiel of the rink, Alderman Art McBurney, who would go on to become the president of the Saskatchewan Curling Association in 1959-60, threw the rock down the ice to open up the bonspiel. The rock he threw was one of 16 rocks made in 1907 by blacksmith James Kerr. The stone had long been forgotten until it washed up on the shore of Anderson Lake due to heavy winds in May of 1947. Curlers claimed it as a memento of the curlers who would curl by lantern light on the lake during the cold winters.
Going back to The Great Depression, curling suffered due to the poor facilities for the sport, and the lack of funds of many curlers. In 1937, the club could no longer function but curlers still wanted to play. They ended up paying the owner of a private rink 25 cents a game, which proved to be a huge success.
Following the Second World War, the town was booming and volunteer labor was used to build a new rink in 1947. A hangar was purchased from the government and the facility was built for only $35,000. It consisted of seven-sheets and opened on Dec. 7, 1948, with 400 people packing into the facility. The facility would continue to be used until 1977.
Information for this article came from Saskatchewan Curling: Heartland Tradition
Canadian History Ehx is not only a column, but also a podcast that publishes weekly with interesting stories of our great nation. You can learn more about the podcast by visiting http://canadaehx.blogspot.com
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