New inductees to Curling Hall of Fame

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This article was published 17/02/2011 (5670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame has opened its doors to new members.

The hall announced Thursday its 2011 inductees and they include:

Curler

Clare DeBlonde curled competitively from 1959- 2009. Clare’s competitive curling started in Junior’s and also includes Men’s, Senior’s, Mixed and Masters. During this time he has appeared in 37 Provincial playoffs and represented the province in 3 Nationals. At the provincial level his resume includes 1 Junior, 21 Men’s, 12 Senior’s and 3 Mixed appearances. Clare represented the province nationally twice in the Men’s and once in the Senior’s. Clare was also coach of the 1984 Labatt Brier Canadian Champions.

Curler

Orest Meleschuk was a competitive curler from 1963 to 2007. He has appeared in 30 Men’s, 7 Senior, 6 Masters, and 1 Mixed Provincial appearances. Orest was Provincial, Canadian, and World’s Men Champion in 1972 and Provincial Champion in 1989. He was also Senior Men’s Provincial Champion in 1996. In 2001 Orest was presented the Curler of Distinction Award.

Team

The Connie Laliberte Teams of 1992 and 1995 with thirds Laurie Allen (1992) and Cathy Overton (1995), second Cathy Gauthier and lead Janet Arnott curling out of the Fort Rouge Curling Club. They were Provincial and Canadian Champions, and were Bronze (1992) and Silver (1995) medalists at the Women’s Word Championships.

Team

Robert Gourley’s 1931 Team with third Ernie Pollard, second Arnold Lockerbie, and lead Ray Stewart curling out of the Strathcona Curling Club were the British Consols Manitoba and the Macdonald Brier Canadian Champions.

Veteran Curler

Fred Smith’s curling resume spanned some 54 years from 1913 to 1967. Fred appeared in 10 provincial men’s and 3 provincial senior’s playdowns. He was third on the 1937 British Consols provincial winning team, which finished 2nd at the Macdonald Brier Canadian Championship. Fred played 2nd on the 1965 Senior Men’s provincial championship team which also won the Canadian senior’s that same year.

Builder

Jerry Brown began curling at the Deer Lodge Curling Club in 1970. He served on the board of directors for several years and was President of the club in 1991 – 92. In 1995 Jerry was honoured with life membership at Deer Lodge. Jerry was elected to the MCA Council in 1985 and served continuously until elected president in 1995-96. In 1997 Jerry was inducted as an Honorary Life Member of the MCA.

Builder

Sylvia Erickson began curling in 1966 in Lynn Lake with stops in Flin Flon and Edmonton. Since 1983 she has curled with the St Vital Curlettes and was Secretary and President of that club. She elected to the MLCA Executive Council in 1989 and served on several committees, becoming president in 1994 -95. In 1996 Sylvia was inducted as Honorary Life Member of the MLCA. Sylvia contributes countless hours to the Manitoba Curling Foundation and Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame. Sylvia is a 2 time Provincial masters Champion in 2005 & 2006.