Keeping small town rinks alive

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This article was published 02/11/2015 (3810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Curling has a long history in rural Manitoba, with some clubs — such as the one in Starbuck — dating back almost 80 years.

Although more people have come to appreciate curling as Canada’s men’s and women’s teams capture top spots in the Olympics and other international competitions, most rural clubs struggle to keep rocks on their ice.

Manitoba curling historian Rick Mutton said the Manitoba Curling Association had 283 rural clubs listed on its roll in 1963, compared to 88 in 2015.

“It’s gone down quite a bit,” he said. “The curling club or hockey rink used to be the community hub.”

While curling rinks in Brunkild, Fannystelle, Elie and St. Eustache have closed, and others in Sanford and Domain are now used primarily for hockey and skating, Marquette, La Salle and Starbuck rinks are still in business.

Small town spirit in Marquette
With a population of 50, according to the RM of Woodlands, it’s surprising the Marquette Curling Club’s two sheets of ice are filled with curlers six nights a week.

“We’re full,” said volunteer Calvin Janke, who looks after scheduling for the club’s stick, mixed open and youth leagues.

His wife Andrea supplies the canteen, while local resident Ross MacMillan makes sure the ice is made and ready for play. Ross’ brother Darren and Ray Sherrin also pitch in on a regular basis, and Janke credits Marquette’s Celine Sholdice with paying the rink’s utility bills.

Unlike other curling clubs, the Marquette club isn’t run by a board, and there are no paid employees. “It’s all volunteers from top to bottom,” Janke said.

He gives an example of the strong commitment shown by volunteers, saying about 20 people came forward to help install an inner shell in the rink.

MacMillan and teammate Jim Rouse, from the Warren curling club, won the 2015
Canadian Stick Curling Championship. Janke said there are 30 teams in this season’s stick league, drawing curlers of all ages from many of the small communities in the area. “We get curlers from all over,” Janke said.

“We have hosted the largest stick bonspiel in Manitoba,” he said, adding that 40 teams participated.

Fridays nights see 64 youngsters between the ages of five and 17 filling the small curling rink.

“It’s a real great mentorship,” Janke said.

Having such a strong youth league helps to draw in parents too — many of the young curlers move on to the adult league.

The Marquette rink also organizes an annual open bonspiel and a youth bonspiel with up to 80 curlers.

In typical small town fashion, Janke said the canteen is often run on an honour basis with curlers trusted to leave the correct amount of money for their purchases.

While the Marquette rink is now going strong, Janke said the outlook wasn’t always as rosy. Seven years ago the rink was used for skating and it was uncertain whether or not curling would return.

He credits the support of local residents and businesses, including the Marquette Co-op which he manages, with turning things around and bringing curling back.

Longtime curler Norma MacMillan, mother of Ross and Darren, said she began curling in the area about 58 years ago after marrying Alvin MacMillan and moving to a farm four miles north of Marquette. At that time she curled on one sheet of ice at a rink in Meadow Lea.

“We had lots of fun there,” she recalls.

When that rink closed in the late 1960s, the MacMillans bought the building to use as a cattle shelter.

Wanting to compete at a higher level, Norma said she joined a league in Warren for about 17 years.

A heart attack has kept her off the ice, but Alvin still stick curls.

Janke said there are two secrets to success for a rural curling rink: keep out politics and competition.

“If you allow your rink to get too competitive, it’ll kill it.”

La Salle building up club
La Salle Curling Club president Dennis Gerbrandt is positive about the club’s future.

“It’s been a struggle the last couple of years, but we’ve got a very good board this year,” he said.

There are 10 women’s and 14 men’s teams and a junior league with about 35 participants.

One of the curling club’s past-presidents Brian Ewanika said, when the club opened, it held the town’s only liquor license so it was a popular spot, netting about $100,000 in sales in a year.

The three-sheet rink is attached to what was once the community club, but now stands next to the much larger LSCU Complex which opened in 2014. Ewanika said the rink had originally supported the operation of the community club, but the situation has reversed.

“Now they help us out,” he said.

Leah McAulay co-ordinates the junior league and learn to curl instruction with children in Grades 5 and up curling after school on Mondays. Students from Sanford Collegiate also curl at the rink as part of their phys-ed program.

“We’ve got a big push on to bring in new members,” she said. As in Marquette, the parents of some young curlers are likely to join a league after they watch their children on the ice.

La Salle’s proximity to the city is a mixed blessing for the club. On one hand, the new homes being constructed for families who leave the city for rural living are increasing the community’s population, but some curlers moving from Winnipeg to La Salle might want to stay with their Winnipeg clubs.

McAulay urges new residents to think about joining the La Salle club.

“It’s a good place to meet people,” she said.

“The curling club is a great place for the community to come together,” Gerbrandt agreed.
“If you don’t use it, you might lose it,” Ewanika cautioned.

The La Salle club’s bonspiel season starts in late October with a men’s berth for the provincials, and includes a fun mixed open bonspiel on New Year’s Eve as well as men’s, women’s and a family bonspiel. A full list of events and dates is available at www.lasallecurlingclub.ca or on the club’s Facebook page.

Starbuck needs new curlers
Starbuck’s curling history stretches back almost 80 years. Long-time resident and club volunteer Tammy Shirtliffe feels the club gives the community a friendly meeting place during the long winter.

“It’s a way to stay connected to people,” she said.

The three-sheet rink that opened in 1974 shares a building with the hockey rink and classrooms used by the Red River Valley School Division for the Grade 5 to 8 students who attend the Starbuck Hockey Academy. The curling rink’s lounge features a wall hung with photos of winning teams dating back to the 1940s and 50s.

Denise Vier said she’s curled for 47 years and recalls going to rinks in Fannystelle and Elie that are now closed. She feels that belonging to a curling club provides a place for new residents to meet their neighbours.

Shirtliffe said the women’s league is trying to attract new members by offering learn-to-curl sessions and matching novices with experienced curlers.

“Come out and try it,” she said.

She knows that many women have to balance the demands of work and family, and might not feel that they’re able to devote one night a week to curling.

Starbuck curlers are joining those who use the hockey rink to raise money for a much-needed ice plant. While the new plant is estimated to cost about $400,000, it’s needed to make and maintain ice conditions within the two rinks. A fundraising social is planned on Nov. 28.

For more information on the Starbuck curling club, contact Joyce Livingston at ja-connolly@hotmail.com or 204-735-2225.

City curling clubs decrease
Mutton said the drop in rural Manitoba curling clubs is echoed by urban clubs, with the number in Winnipeg falling by half to 13 from 1963 to 2015. He credits this in part to the difficulty of finding committed, long-term volunteers since people tend to shy away from giving up too much of their precious spare time. The trend of older Manitobans heading south for all or part of the winter has also negatively affected clubs across the province.

He said the days of most people being able to take time off work to travel to other rinks for bonspiels are gone.

But the future of curling in rural Manitoba need not be entirely gloomy, Mutton said. With the cost of hockey registration, equipment and travel to practices, games and tournaments climbing, parents can look at curling as an alternative winter sport for their children.

“Curling isn’t expensive at all,” he said.

This factor, combined with the strong determination of rural curlers to keep their remaining clubs open, might help curlers to win their end.

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