The roaring game’s return to the city 20 years ago proved cause for celebration Saturday.
The Orillia Curling Club marked the sport’s return in 1999 after an 11-year hiatus with a special afternoon of festivities at the Barnfield Point Recreation Centre.
“It started with a few of us talking about what year we were coming into here,” club past president Rick Swinton explained. “We thought it was a good idea to recognize the anniversary.”
For 11 years, the city didn’t have a club when its previous location on West Street North had to close due to structural issues that would have cost too much to repair.
“Once they (building inspectors) shut us down, the expense to reopen was getting really high,” Swinton said, noting there had been reports that the soon-to-be-open Hawk Ridge Golf Club was going to also feature a curling club, so members took heart knowing their favourite sport would continue to thrive.
But when that didn’t happen and other potential partnerships fizzled out, members were forced to travel to other locales to continue hitting the ice.
“We had a goal of bringing curling back to Orillia,” said curling club board member Charlene Ley, who also served on the 20th anniversary committee.
“We worked with many partners to try to investigate how to accomplish that goal.”
Luckily for curlers, the city eventually built Barnfield Point where the club pays rent.
“This is the seventh location of the curling club,” Ley said. “The club has a long local history.”
From modest beginnings on the frozen ice of Lake Couchiching, the Orillia Curling Club was established in 1873 with a building on Coldwater Road between Matchedash and Peter Streets.
“The first three clubs burned down,” Ley said, joking that the fourth club was built near the city’s firehall at the time.
Added Swinton: “We were at West Street from 1964 until 1988.”
And while some members opted to travel to places like Gravenhurst, Midland, Barrie and Beaverton to keep curling, others simply stopped playing.
“A lot of people quit curling,” said Swinton who, along with Ley, is one of 34 members who also curled at the West Street facility.
“We lost a generation of curlers, including all the high school kids who would have curled.”
But Ley said the club has been innovative in building up its membership to close to the current 400-person mark by hosting various leagues and a special Friday night initiative that allows people to play for $20.
“They don’t have to be members,” she said, noting businesses can also rent the ice for employee events.
“And we supply everything. It’s an absolutely wonderful sport.”
