Keen ice for January 30 2007 by Jim Duncan

The January 17^th visit to the Miramichi Curling club by the Afternoon Seniors went very, very, well. Their new club is a $4.5M multipurpose building in which the large front hall will be utilised by Tourism New Brunswick and the lounge on the mezzanine, which will hold 180 people, will be available for functions. The ice shed includes a state of the art 20 tonne ice plant with a system to recover the heat from the compressor and use it to contribute to heating the building. The ice area is climate controlled with two heater/dehumidifiers keeping the ice shed cool, but not excessively cold. The six sheets of ice were fast – 22 to 25 seconds hogline to hogline – and curled a good three feet. Our twenty-four curlers acquitted themselves well on this surface, which is quite kind to those who perhaps have a little trouble throwing weight. The Miramichi teams changed sheets after four ends to ensure the chance to meet as many visitors as possible. Their hospitality was excellent, as ever, with soup and sandwiches provided before the game and lots of socialising and discussion after. We look forward to their return visit tomorrow.

All this was followed by an excellent funspiel on the evenings of Friday January 19^th and Saturday January 20^th. Organised by Omer and Lynn Fontaine and strongly supported by the afternoon seniors, a mere $7 brought a Beef Bourguignon supper on Friday followed by a ‘curl between the sheets’ game. This was a revelation to some of our players, consisting of hanging sheets across the ice so that you cannot see the other end. Signals are given by holding the broom up and there is one sweeper either side of the sheet. It is amazingly difficult to judge the weight when you can’t see the house! On Saturday the format was a break and change of ice every two ends. Finger foods were available and plentiful and all had a great time. Thank you Omer and Lynn, we are amazed at what you did for $7 and look forward to the next one.

Saturday past saw the usual frantically successful ‘Curl for Cancer’, which was a roaring – and I do mean roaring – success. Financial results are reported elsewhere, but this event is mutually beneficial to the club and the sponsoring organisation.

On Sunday January 21^st the UCT results were: Raj Chettiar beat Albert Mazerrolle, Alvin Lavigne beat Andy Savoie, Val Saulnier beat Joel Roy and John Ferguson beat Emery LeBlanc.

On Monday January 22^nd Emile Babineau defeated Omer Fontaine, Pat Maher defeated Fred Elhatton, Alvin Lavigne defeated David Godin, Bob Nicolle defeated Paul Laframboise and Marc Imbeault defeated Andy Savoie.

Tuesday January 23^rd was a bit sparse for results showing John Leblanc over Raj Chettiar, Wells Chapman over Ken Brown and the Comeau team beat Dale Glendenning.

On Thursday January 25^th (Robbie Burns Day!) …

(Editor’s note: Check Today’s Northern Light for more details)

Pictures of the Miramichi visit below.