The Quesnel Curling Centre was alive with fun, friendship, sportsmanship and the love of curling when the Nifty Fifty came to town. The Quesnel Ladies hosted the 47th annual bonspiel in its first appearance in Quesnel, March 17 – 20.
Twenty eight teams from all over the province, including six from Quesnel, registered for the event, which is open to ladies over 50.
The organizing committee of Lori Wawryk, Donna Wawryk, Fay Pethick, Lorna Schley, Anna Johnson, Trudy Bentley and Brenda and Don Ernst put on a very enjoyable event, highlighted by the excellent banquet, catered by Joanne and Troy Cooley, a costume parade in the gold rush theme and the Aschroft ladies putting on a skit called 'The Big Chilli Cook–Off."
During the banquet, a couple of the eldest ladies were introduced, who were 85 and 86 years young.
The bonspiel had a unique system of scoring which allowed for all the teams to play five games.
The first game decided which teams would play on either the A or the B side. From there, the winners were chosen by points from their wins, ends won and score. It was an advantage to have a high score.
The winners of the A event were: the Geneva McLean rink from Salmon Arm in first; Ethel Vincent from Esquimalt in second; Williams Lake's Nancie Eastman in third; Quesnel's Carol Thatcher Rink, including Donna Kilsby playing third, Penny Yamamoto second and Linnea Hedden lead; rounding out the top five was the Sheila Dale rink of Qualicum.
The winners of the B side were: the Anita Mazurkewitch rink, from Aschroft, in first; Cloverdale's Caroline Koehler in second; Quesnel's own Louise Scott rink, including Lorna Schley in third position, Aleida Woolends in second and Chris Clark in lead, in third; in fourth was the Divera Meeres rink out of Peace Arch; and the Pat Jones rink, out of Chase, rounded out the top five.
Special thanks goes to Selena Gook for the team pictures and Gordon Reid for helping with the scoring.
The committee would also like to thank all the local businesses who sponsored the event.
The Quesnel Curling Centre has a website with lots of pictures and information, including when registration will take place for next season and lessons for beginners. You can also like them on Facebook.
The centre is open to all who would like to join Canada's 'gold winning' Olympic sport of curling.
– Contributed by Aleida Woolends