The Elora Curling Club is currently celebrating its 175th anniversary season.
Attaining that milestone has allowed the thriving club to lay claim to being among the oldest, continuously-operating, curling clubs in Ontario.
While the winter sport is believed to have been played on the frozen surface of the Grand River since the 1840s, it wasn’t until the game moved indoors in 1879 that the local club was officially formed.
The original facility, located on Mill Street, burned down in 1908, but the game continued on an outdoor rink located at the corner of Geddes and David Streets.
In 1920 a new multi-purpose rink to accommodate hockey, skating and curling was opened, but that facility too was lost to fire in 1933.
In 1934, a new arena was opened on the site of the present curling club; this one including a two-sheet ice pad for curling, in addition to the hockey and skating rink.
Use of the arena was interrupted during the Second World War, when the facility was used to store bales of wool for making uniforms.
Aside from a period of time in the 1930s when women took to the ice, curling was a male-dominated sport in this area, notes Wilma Schwint, who joined the club in 1961, when women were invited to play alongside the men.
The game at that time was still played on natural ice and, Wilma recalls, her first season was a short one.
“We didn’t start until well after the new year and we had a thaw in the middle of February, so that first season we played seven games.”
The following year, the facility was outfitted for artificial ice and Wilma recalls those pioneering ladies who participated in the short outdoor season were hastily promoted to skips of the ladies teams that were subsequently formed.
Wilma, like her husband, Doug Schwint, is an honourary life member of the Elora Curling Club. Doug began curling in the early ‘60s as well, and became one of the area’s top competitors, winning the prestigious Mutual Life Trophy in 1984 skipping a rink that also included George Jemmett, Ken Cameron and Rick Smith.
The Schwints both say their early days at the former facility provided many good experiences. Wilma was at one point secretary on the club’s executive, while Doug was among those who helped to make ice.
“We had some great times on that old two-sheeter,” states Wilma.
In the mid-1970s the Elora arena, like many throughout Ontario, was condemned as a result of a blitz of safety inspections arising from fear of another tragic arena collapse like the one in Listowel that claimed eight lives in 1959.
At that point, the club purchased the site and constructed the current Elora Curling Club building around the existing ice pads – resulting in the five-sheet facility the club presently operates.
A new hockey and skating arena was built next door at the corner of David Street and Wellington Road 7.
Today, with over 200 members, the Elora Curling Club is a busy place, with league play scheduled every weeknight and a heavy slate of bonspiels on the weekends.
This year, in addition to popular local events like the George Rogers Memorial Bonspiel and the Pritchard Memorial Mixed Bonspiel, the club is hosting a number of competitive events.
First up is the Ontario Curling Association (OCA) Junior Regionals, featuring top young curlers competing for the right to advance to the provincial playdowns.
Additionally, as part of its anniversary festivities, the club will host the Provincial Intermediate Mens and Ladies Curling Playdowns from March 5 to 8.
The event will attract the best 16 curling teams from across the province to compete for intermediate provincial titles.
“It’s very unusual that a provincial playdown of any level is being played in a club this size. Usually that will go to the bigger clubs,” notes longtime local member Bruce MacEachern.
“It will attract a lot of people because there will be people here from across the province, so it’s good for the community as well,” he said.
Club president Terry Novosad added, “It draws in a lot of people, a lot of good curlers. There’s going to be some excellent curling going on here.”
Novosad noted hosting the event will mean “a lot of work” for the club’s volunteers.
“We rely a lot on our volunteers and we’re going to be putting a lot of pressure on them this year,” he said, adding volunteers will be needed to help with everything from kitchen and bartending duties, to keeping time and helping keep the ice in shape for the intermediate competition.
Of course, the anniversary season isn’t all work for the volunteers.
Earlier this season, club members had a chance to mingle with some of Canada’s top curlers. On Oct. 3, the club hosted a meet and greet dinner with four Canadian and world champions: Glenn Howard, Craig Savill, Brent Laing and Jennifer Jones.
“It was a wonderful night … they were just incredible speakers,” said Novosad.
Jones was particularly good at relating to the junior curlers, added Wilma.
“She was just incredible with the juniors and the way they just lit up when she was talking to them – it was just wonderful to see,” she said.
Club members are also looking forward to the upcoming 175th Birthday Bash. The bonspiel/party on Feb. 22 will allow teams to compete not only in curling, but other games such as trivia competitions as well.
“It’s a point system so if you win the trivia you could end up winning the bonspiel,” explained Novosad.
While the focus is on fun, over the years the Elora club has produced some good competitive curlers.
An Elora team skipped by Rowe Deans and including Jeff Beath, Matt McDougall and Trevor Feil won the OCA Holiday Inn Challenge, a provincial competition, in 2007.
Feil also entered a rink in the Colt Provincials in Meaford last season, finishing second, and hopes to qualify to play in the provincial competition in Elora this spring.
Tina Mazerolle has competed at the provincial level on the ladies side and in mixed events with her husband Andrew.
But for most members, drawing together is as important as drawing to the button.
Novosad, who curled in Blenheim before moving to Elora in 1984, knew the sport would help him become a part of his new community in short order.
“The first place I looked to meet people when I moved into town was the curling club … I couldn’t wait to get here to meet everybody in town.”
MacEachern used to spend his winters coaching hockey. Then his wife joined the Elora club in 1976.
“I’m busy coaching hockey and I’m away, and she was curling Friday nights – and every Friday night she got later and later,” he recalls.
“I came in one Friday night just to be a visitor and see what’s going on and the next year I quit hockey and joined the curling club … it was so much fun.”
MacEachern added, “A good portion of our friends today are people we met through the curling club.”
The combination of friendly competition, fellowship and community pride, says Novosad, are among the elements that have helped sustain the Elora Curling Club into its 18th decade.
“It’s the members. It’s members like Bruce and Doug and Wilma … it’s people like them that have kept it going and it’s the community, and it’s volunteers – people who love the game and love the club and want to come out and meet everybody.”
