A sign measuring seven-and-a-half arm lengths by one-and-a-half welcomed the 128 curlers (32 rinks) to the 52nd-annual Fort Frances ladies’ bonspiel as they entered the lower level of the local curling club.
It read: “What happens in Vegas . . . stays in Vegas.”
Confused? Well, most would be without some explanation.
You see, the theme of this year’s bonspiel was Las Vegas. The organizing committee of Diane Pattison, Patti Boileau, Colleen Wiersema, and Teryl MacFarland (last year’s champs) came up with the idea in this fashion—52nd bonspiel + 52 cards in a deck=a Las Vegas theme.
But the Fort Frances Curling Club isn’t Las Vegas, so we can tell you this—Kathie Jackson still plays with stuffed animals.
Jackson, along with her team of third Donna Kowalchuk, second Mary-Lynne Bondett, and lead Caroline Spencer, had the help of a white pint-sized teddy bear to win the ‘C’ final Sunday afternoon over Jodi Judd by a score of 8-2.
“My mom, who we call Momma Bear, and my dad, who we call Papa Bear, brought us a little bear last night [Saturday] for good luck, so I guess it’s now our mascot,” said Jackson.
Jackson had opened the tournament Friday with a win over Peggie Loyie, but then lost to Amy Nielson to drop down to the ‘C’ bracket.
She then beat Pattison, Florence Chartrand, and Kim Roy to reach the ‘C’ final against Judd, whose team included third Kim Beaudry, second Judy Lambert, and lead Ida Linklater.
Judd had begun with a win over Cheryl Gartley, then was beaten by Danielle Robinson. But she bounced back with wins over Nettie Kaufman, Eva Costello, and Tami Kjerulf.
While the event’s base is made of fun, its tip is brought together from competition, which was exemplified by Jackson, who always has fun at any bonspiel she attends but always wants to win, too.
“There’s always a competitive side to it. All of the curlers here want to have fun and want to win,” said Jackson. “We play for fun, but my team is very competitive.
“They like to win, so I guess we were just hoping to curl on Sunday and we won the ‘C’ event, so I think we did more than we expected,” she added.
Also performing beyond their imagination was the Kenora rink of Joan Green, which won the ‘A’ final Sunday with a 9-4 decision over Judy LaBelle despite playing together for the first time all season.
“We just wanted to get away for the weekend,” said Green, whose team included third Lorraine Green, second Dorothy Holmgren, and lead Celine Hanton.
“But our team curled very well. We were pretty strong all weekend long,” she added. “We didn’t play any hits. We just played tap backs and front bumps, and got the breaks when we needed them.”
Green got to the final by rolling off victories against Pearl Pidlubny, Kaufman, Robinson, and then Colleen Scrimger.
LaBelle, whose team featured third Kathi Gagné, second Laurie Callan, and lead Pat Steele, got to the final with wins over Elaine Sande, Sandra Tibbs, Maureen Thomson, and Sandra Roberston.
And on the ‘B’ side, Dolores Medicine (Whitefish Bay) won the final over Tammy Lamb by a score of 9-3.
“I was pretty confident with the way we were playing,” said Medicine, whose team included third Sharon Tom, second Susan Copenace, and lead Karen Allen.
“Sure, we missed a few shots here and there, but I was pretty satisfied with the way we played,” she added. “We knew that we were going to be facing a lot of competition, but we wanted to have fun and we did.
Medicine started with a loss to Jackie McCormick, but then followed with wins over Bonny Mueller, Kelly Wager, and Diane Windigo.
Lamb, meanwhile, opened with a loss to Roy, but followed with victories over Joanne Hyatt, Sande, and Loyie.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
