OCC NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 2018

SENIOR MEN
th
On Wednesday, November 7 , the Senior Men held the first of
five mini-spiels. With 48 curlers participating in this in-house tag
draw bonspiel, the men played two games during the day with a
wonderful lunch prepared by Elie and his staff at the Bayside
Restaurant.

The top three curlers, Chris Newton, Mark Roland and Bill Walters,
went home with Orillia Canadian Tire gift cards.

All of the other curlers went home with prizes purchased from
Jason’s No Frills. Dave Madigan

DAY LADIES
The first Day Ladies bonspiel of the year was held on Tuesday,
November 13 and was arranged by the past presidents of the
section. The event was attended by 42 curlers who enjoyed this
annual fun spiel and the hearty lunch of beef stew.

The winning team was skipped by Mona Cillis with Kathy
Backway Karen Jolliffe and Fiona Pietras.

Many thanks to Jane Binns and Mary Wilson who organized this
event!
 OCC Newsletter – December 2018

HISTORY OF THE
ORILLIA CURLING CLUB
Curling is one of the world's oldest sports. The first recorded curling match
was played in February 1541 in Scotland.

In the 1860s, James "Stonewall" Jackson began organizing curling on the

At the Elgin Street location frozen surface of Lake Couchiching. Kitchen brooms with wide heads would
be used to sweep during the game. Many farmers would play throughout the
in February 1886, teams
winter as they had more leisure time than during the rest of the year. Curling
from Orillia, Collingwood, continued to be played on Lake Couchiching into the 1930s, even though it
Waubaushene and was also played at indoor rinks.
Churchill played to
The Orillia Curling Club was established in 1873, having its first rink on the
determine who would north side of Coldwater Road between Peter and Matchedash Street. After
represent the County in three of the early buildings caught fire, the club was forced to relocate to 450
the Ontario Tankard. West Street North.

Women began curling in Orillia in the 1940s, with their own leagues being
With heavy, wet snow developed as part of the Curling Club's schedule and mixed teams were
threatening to bury the established in the 1950s.
town, many spectators left
In November 1988, two weeks after the start of the season, the Ontario
early, afraid that the roof Ministry of Labour closed the doors to the West Street rink. Their report
might collapse! stated that, due to structural concerns, the building needed $200,000 in
repairs before it could reopen. There was just not enough money to do this,
It didn’t…that so the club closed permanently. Many members joined other clubs in towns
nearby or quit curling completely.
evening…and the
remaining fans watched However, with the rink closed, the club's rocks could be used in the 1990 Blue
Orillia win an exciting Light Tankard Ontario Curling Championships.
match in the final end.
In 1999, the Barnfield Point Recreation Centre was opened by the City of
Orillia, giving the Curling club a permanent home.
But about 9:30 the next
morning, the whole Over the years, the Orillia Curling Club has relied heavily on volunteers from
the community for its league organization, its schedulers and its executive
building came crashing committee.
down, with heavy wood
beams and tons of snow
descending on the area
where curlers and
spectators had been just
twelve hours earlier!

A new rink was built on
Andrew Street where it
served the curlers until the
new West Street location
was erected in 1964.