Twenty-two local curling squads got suited up in green to take part in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Open Bonspiel at the Quesnel Curling Centre last weekend (March 15-17)
Play began on Friday at 6 p.m., draws went through the day on Saturday, and the championship game was contested on Sunday at one in the afternoon.
Club co-ordinator Dave Plant fills us in on some of the event’s history.
“It used to be our men’s event, and it went for 75 years,” he says.
“But then all of a sudden, we couldn’t get very many men’s teams to compete, we were down to 16 teams, so we decided to make it an open event, so the ladies have been a part of it ever since.”
The A Event was won by Team Wawryk, a team made up of Grant Wawryk (skip), Tim Candell (3rd), Jim Sommerville (2nd) and Earl Spielman (lead). They beat out Ray Blackmore’s Team Blackmore, with a steal in the sixth proving to be the difference maker in a 6-4 contest.
The B Event final saw a very close game between Team Wawryk, lead by skip Dave Wawryk, and Team Needham. Wawryk ended up needing to draw to the four foot with his last show to force an extra end but came up just short on his effort, resulting in Team Needham — made up of skip Dave Needham, 3rd Wendy Needham, 2nd Gary Millward and lead Shari Needham — taking the match, 9-5.
The C Event featured a matchup between Team Kotzer, lead by skip Brad Kotzer, and Team Gamache. After a steal of two put the Gamache squad up 5-1 after the fourth end, the teams exchanged deuces, with Team Gamache, made up of skip Len Gamache, 3rd Spencer Gamache, 2nd Ron Durocher and lead Ray Langley, winning 7-3 after six ends.
