It still feels like summer outside, but those who cherish one of Canada’s favourite frozen indoor pastimes already are polishing up their brooms.
The Fort Frances Curling Club will hold its annual registration next Monday (Sept. 15) from 7-9 p.m. upstairs at the facility, followed by the club’s annual general meeting Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.
On-ice action is set to start Oct. 6.
“We’re motivated and ready to go,” said Gushulak. “We encourage all curlers to get their teams together in time for those dates.
“We also want to encourage anyone who’s new to curling and wanting to get involved to come out,” he added. “We have a variety of different ways to help introduce them to the sport.”
One of those is a reduced membership fee for anyone who hasn’t curled locally in the new millennium (since the end of the 1999/2000 season).
“It’s generally directed at people who gave up the game for whatever reason and would like to get back into it,” noted Gushulak.
Returning teams will be given first priority if they wish to register for the same league night they curled on last year, and all curlers will face a new fee structure this year.
The schedule, at this point, is as follows:
•Monday—Twilight ladies’ league (5 p.m.); men’s regular league (7 p.m.)
•Tuesday—U.S. league (6 p.m.); make-up games and practice (8 p.m.)
•Wednesday—Twilight men’s league (5 p.m.); men’s regular league (7 and 9 p.m.)
•Thursday—Twilight men’s league (5 p.m.); ladies’ regular league (7 p.m. and possibly 9 p.m., depending on number of registered teams)
•Friday—U.S. mixed league (5 p.m.); Canadian mixed league (7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.)
The Li’l Rockers program for children will run Saturdays starting at 9 a.m. while the junior program for older youth will go Tuesdays at 4 p.m.
In other news, the curling club executive recently agreed to offer its Eighth Street facility as an avenue of support should the citizens of Fort Frances ever need it in catastrophic times.
At its Sept. 3 budget meeting, the club was approached by local Fire Chief Steve Richardson, on behalf of the Town of Fort Frances, to act as an operations base in the case of a severe emergency hitting the area, such as a natural disaster.
The building would serve as a reception and inquiry centre for the public in emergency situations and, if needed, could be used as an evacuation centre.
“We feel we would like to do our part to help the community,” explained Gushulak. “We’re prepared to do this in the interests of public safety.”
The club also will be doing some fundraising to help solidify a presently shaky financial situation, although Gushulak said nothing has been finalized at this point.
“We need to get our weekends filled up with bonspiels,” he stressed. “We also hope people know they can reserve the upstairs part of our facility for upcoming Christmas parties and other events.”
Gushulak added several weekend and evening dates close to the Christmas season still are available for those wanting to rent the facility.
Anyone needing more information can contact the curling club at 274-6667.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
