Donate via the BC Amateur Sports fund to receive a tax deductible receipt
using this link: http://support.bcamateursportfund.org/P0500

 

To download the Registration Form, click on the above header. 

Stick Bonspiel - Saturday, December 7th Results

The Second Annual Stick Bonspiel is over for another year! Many volunteers from Scorers, Food Provinders including Chilli, Buns, Muffins, Desserts, Kitchen Helpers, Clean up, Registrars, Ticket Sellars, Bar Tenders, and Ice Techs made this happen! Big thanks for all the help they provided! Along with the Spiel, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the new Accessibilty Lift. Brad Dufour and Murray Soder, who were in charge of the new Accessibilty Expansion, along with Osoyoos Wheel Chair Curler, Chester Draper, officially opened the Lift! There were 16 teams participating - 3 from Penticton, 6 from Osoyoos, and 7 from Oliver! It was a successful Saturday for 3 Oliver Teams winning the top 3 prizes. Finishing 1st with 39 points out of a possible 51 were Marilyn and Rick Reimer! 2nd with 37 points were Bob Germyn and Blair Patterson! 3rd were Marietta and Bruce Fulcher with 35 points. Two Osoyoos teams - Nick Warner with Kip Greenlaw and Chester Draper with Brock Paton - tied for 4th with 32 points!

Ribbon Cutting for the Accessibility Lift with Murray Soder, Brad Dufour, and Chester Draper, Osoyoos Wheel Chair Curler

Presenting the awards - John Surovy, Stick League Coordinator

Ladies Welcome Back Bonspiel - held November 16 and 17

A Event sponsored by PJR Contracting - Winners

Presented by Wanda Casorso - left to right Wanda Casorso, Leas - Lynda Larson, Skip - Kitty Freeborn, Third - Suzanna Watts, and Second - Diana Johnston

B Event sponsored by Murvette Services Ltd. (Tony Murray and Sylvia Lowe) Winners

Left to right: Skip - Jenn Seminoff, Third - Michelle Brunschwiler, Second - Brittany Vierra, Lead - Jamie Higgins, Tony Murray, Sylvia Lowe

C Event sponsored by Gerard's Equipment - Winners

Presented by Wanda Casorso - Left to right Wanda Casorso, Skip - Diane Banera, Third - Betty Rycroft, Second - Cheryl Noble, and Lead - Karen D'Amato

Upcoming dates to note:

Curling ends for the 2024 Season - December 20th

Junior Tournament - February 8th, 2025

Curling Starts January 6th, 2025

Snow Ladies Bonspiel - January 17th, 2025

Men's Bonspiel - February 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 2025

Provincial Mixed Championship - March 26th through March 30th, 2025

Wind-Up Banquet - April 12th, 2025

Garage Sale - April 26th, 2025

 

Wanda Casorso, Cathy Thompson, and Norma volunteered at the Points Bet International Tournament September 25th to the 29th in Calgary in the Goldline Merchandise Store. They are picture with Aryn Flowers the Goldline rep.

From Left to Right: Bill Collens - second, Charlton McNaughton - lead, Dick Goodall - Skip, John Chapman - third

50 Years of Curling in Oliver

1968 to 1970

The idea of building a curling rink in Oliver began in 1968. Many of curlers who had been participating in their favourite sport for many years in Osoyoos and Summerland felt Oliver had grown enough to have a club of their own. https://eastlinkcurlingcentre.ca/images/001-e1442981646221.jpg" width="500" height="406" /> A committee was formed to explore the feasibility of such an idea. The initial Society was comprised of the following members: President: Eric Bastian Vice-President: Dick Goodall Secretary: Stu Mould Treasurer: Dave Francis Directors: Fred Fritz, Bill Andrews, Roy Becker; Mel Skaros, John Fritz, Ray Anderson, Blaine Francis, John Loudon, Dick Topping, Joe Fefchak , Willie Nunweiler, Bob Wheeler, Ewart Bowering and others were early supporters. Shopkeeper Sam Noel purchased first debenture.

Initially the club attempted to come to an agreement with a Elks Lodge to construct a multi-purpose facility. An agreement could not be reached and the group decided to raise funds in the community. Members who could not afford a debenture bought memberships for $100. Members who could not afford this were able to pay $10 monthly on instalments. The proposal was to build a four-sheet rink that would be located adjacent to the planned skating arena. By 1969, the Committee had sold $52,000 in debentures and $22,000 in memberships, and negotiated a bank loan for $5,000. A decision was made to proceed with the planning of the building. On April 7th, 1970 a Special Meeting was held to consider the proposed plans for the four-sheet curling rink. The proposal was approved. Construction began 2 months later on June 5th under the supervision of Seidler Construction.

1970

On June 4th, construction began with an estimated cost for the facility of $84,000. Volunteer hours totalled 10,000. Work parties began at 6:00 pm on weekdays and on weekends. The men did the general labour work and the women took on the entire job of painting the club. Not one dollar of Public tax money was used to build or maintain the building. The rink does stands on Town property. The building contractor for the project was Bill Seidler. By August, construction was well underway and the completion date was set for September. The first ice maker hired was A.J. “Pat” Patterson, a retired Air Force Army Veteran. Pat was an enthusiastic curler and had coached at the junior and high school levels. In September, the refrigeration equipment was installed. Rocks were ordered from Scotland and were to be shipped.

The ice sheets were bare bones grey concrete block walls and an open ceiling of truss rafters. In one place on the north side, daylight could be seen through cracks in the block wall. While this had not been planned, it allowed the smoke that was vented from the lodge to escape outside (smoking still being permitted). The bleachers that are still currently used were donated by the Penticton Granite Curling Club. It was said that the curling club was built because Eric Bastian didn’t know it was impossible.

In October Eric Bastian was elected First President along with a slate of officers of the Curling Club. Helen Bastian was elected as the First President of the Ladies Club. (FYI -the Bastiens are the parents of Joyce Kuzyk and Joan Firman). The Ladies Club ran the concession for the club. A portion of the profits from the concession went to operating expenses. On October 15th, the first ice was put in the curling rink. By [November], the Curling Club was in full swing.

November 1970 saw the official ribbon-cutting ceremony held with many dignitaries from neighbouring clubs in attendance. This was the kick-off to the first Mixed Bonspiel with 40 teams in attendance from the Okanagan and Boundary Regions and as far away as Revelstoke, Trail and the Coast.  This had been preceded 2 weeks earlier by the first Club Mixed Bonspiel that hosted 32 teams composed of club members. The entry fee was set at $10 per rink. The “A” team winners appropriately were the Bastien Team with President Eric Bastien, which included his wife Helen with Charlie and Phyllis Miller.

During the balance of the curling season, several well-attended bonspiels were held, including the Kinsman, the first Men’s Open, and the first Ladies’ Open. Of note, the club’s first 8-ender was achieved during the Men’s Night League by the Bob Armstrong team, which included John Rotheisler, Dave Nicholas and Ted Mickolas.

From 1970 to 1975, the club was doing so well that Awards Night was held in the Legion Hall. The club lacked the space and had insufficient chairs and tables. 

In 1975, four 1000-watt heaters were installed in the corners of the ice shed, to the delight of all members, who had been grumbling about the cold.

When the new curling season started in 1976, curlers were greeted by newly redecorated upstairs and downstairs lounges. Boards around the ice had been painted by the ladies. The upstairs lounge area had been redecorated to improve acoustics and ventilation. The walls were finished in cedar siding and the ceiling was finished in cork tiles. The President at the time, Murray Soder, reported that the work had been carried out by club members on a volunteer basis. In the same year, club member Dick Topping was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame for his involvement and dedication in running the Canadian School Boy Curling Championships.

The Day League that is so popular with members today began in 1977. The avid curlers in the Oliver Club wrapped up the club’s seventh year of operations with a steak dinner and awards night in their newly renovated upstairs lounge.

A new ceiling was put over the ice surface in 1981 resulting in better lighting and noise reduction. Corn brooms could be very loud.

1980 – 1990

 The two most significant things to happen were the insulation (1980) and subsequent painting (1984) of the ice shed ceiling with fire retardant paint. Previously the ceiling was just truss rafters with nothing in them. Volunteer club members rolled scaffolding on plywood sheets over the sand floor with a crew of volunteers working to install the ceiling. A Gyproc firewall was installed between the lounge area and  the ice surface area. It took almost a month for volunteers working evenings and weekends to complete the job. In 1981, volunteers installed insulation on the walls of the ice shed immediately after the curling season ended. Neil Seidler of Seidler Construction was then hired to install the present panelling (over the insulation) that is on the walls. A year later, volunteers from the club painted the panelling

1982.

The club’s second eight ender was scored by June James, Leonie Soder, Ida Szmata and Jackie Kilgour .

1985

In 1985 the Jodie Sutton team, Julie Sutton, Dawn Rubner and Tammy Hagel won the Provincial High School Girls Championship. They then went on to win the Canadian Junior Womens Championship.

1986

Jodie Sutton repeated winning the Provincial High School Girls Championship in 1986 with Julie Sutton, Teresa Zeibart and Michelle Surovy. The same year, Jodie Sutton also won the Provincial Junior Ladies Championship with Julie Sutton, Dawn Rubner and Chris Thompson following it up with winning the Canadian Junior Womens Championship.

The Provincial Senior Ladies Championship was won by Pearl Quintal and her team comprised of Mary Skaros, Leonie Soder and June James.

1987

In 1987 the Junior Girls Provincial  Championships again was won by Julie Sutton and her team of Judy Wood, Susan Auty, and Marla Geiger. They went on to win the Canadian Junior Womens Championship.

1988

The 1^st World Junior Womens Championship  was won by Julie Sutton, Judy  Wood, Susan Auty, and  Marla Geiger.

1989  

Scott Tournament of Hearts won by Julie Sutton, Pat Sanders, Georgina Hawkes, Melissa Soligo

1990

Senior Men’s Zone was won by George Hagel, Bob Bourgeault, Murray Soder, Doug Weeks.

1970 through 2022 

The new millennium brought the latest building upgrades that enabled the club to cement and enlarge the ice surface. International-sized ice could allow the facility to be used for practice sites for Olympians coming to B.C. The building and downstairs washrooms became wheelchair accessible. The Town of Oliver allowed the club to have summer rental in the downstairs area for the children’s Sun Fun group organized by the Parks and Rec. This helped with the club’s maintenance costs.

Improvements to the club cost $150,000 in cash and $150,000 in sweat equity by the hard-working members. Over 50 years, it is estimated that approximately 20,000 men and ladies from all parts of the Interior and the Coast were entertained by participating in our  Men’s, Ladies and Mixed Bonspiels. In addition, for more than 20 years, the Knights of Columbus, Kinsmen, Legion and Heart and Stroke organizations had annual bonspiels that entertained an additional 5,000-plus curlers. BC Tel and West Kootenay Power also had their weekend bonspiel at our club for many years. The club has provided an estimated 10,000 person years of winter recreation through our club leagues during the regular season. We are immensely proud of our facility and also very thankful to all of the volunteers who have stepped up and willingly gave of their expertise and time to keep the club going year after year. A big thank you to all!

Story contributed by Johanne Smith published as 50 Years of Curling in Oliver. Published and edited by John Surovy

Click on this link if you would like to get information on how to donate to the new fully accessible edition to the Oliver Curling Club! Any donation would be appreciated!