The Greenwood Curling Club’s men’s closing bonspiel has been – for years! – a great way to end the curling season. Then COVID-19 hit us, and the ‘spiel was cancelled for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
But not this year! The 64th bonspiel went on without a hitch April 15 and 16 to close the 2023 season. Sixteen teams competed – a good start in bringing back this popular bonspiel. It was great to see some familiar faces among the teams, which included representation from all over the province: Halifax, the South Shore, Northumberland, throughout the Valley – and one curler from Ottawa!
Hats off to Hazel and Sandra for all their work pulling the ‘spiel together. Thanks to club president Dave Ronaldson for doing the draw, and special thanks to the ice crew, the bar staff and the ladies who prepared and served the delicious meal (we hear Charlene’s carrot cake was yummy). The curlers were treated to a lunch after the finals – a nice touch to be able to grab a sandwich before hitting the road home.
The ‘spiel winners were certainly not strangers to this event, or the winners’ circle: congratulations to the Berwick Curling Club’s foursome of Curt Palmer, sons Colin and Ben (Ottawa) and long-time friend, Glenn Josephson. The runner-up team was from the Mayflower Curling Club: Marty Gavin, Paul Dexter, Randy Degrass and Steve Sauveur.
The “A” consolation winners were Mark Robar, Andy Mader, Corey Shortliffe and Dave Mader. The runner-up team was Greenwood’s foursome of Dave Ronaldson, John Boekema, Rick Lindsay and Terry Peters.
The “B” event saw two teams from the Berwick club going to battle. Doug Bryant, Dave Lonergan, Joel Smith and Toshi Imai were the victors over clubmates Andrew Willsley, Cody Spidle, Conrad MacEachern and Brad Schurman.
The “C” event winners were from the Northumberland Curling Club: Dave Canfield, Andrew Robertson, John Mills and Brian Gordon. They defeated Greenwood curlers Doug Carpenter, Tom Litsas, Mike McCorry and Roger Brooks.
Congratulations to all the winners, and sincere thanks to all 16 teams for supporting this great bonspiel. Please stay safe over the summer months and we look forward to hosting you all again next year. Encourage your friends to sign up for this great sport we call curling!
