Fun and flirty: Funspiel great activity for women of all ages

Pirates, penguins, maids and angels – oh my!

Clad in brightly-coloured costumes, women of all ages threw rocks and swept the ice Jan. 24 as the Glooscap Curling Club held the fourth annual Flirts in Skirts funspiel.

Twelve teams from Kentville, Berwick, Wolfville and Halifax competed on and off the ice as they vied for best costume – and best curler – honours.

Brenda Reddy, who helped to organize the event and is a past member of the Glooscap Club, says participants look forward to Flirts in Skirts every year.

“I think the costumes and the fun of exploring Frenchys to see what you can find is what they like about it so much,” she said. “The ladies wearing the wings bought them at Walmart last October – they didn’t know what they were going to do with them, but they knew they wanted them for this event.”

The challenge, added Susan Feurtado, is finding a creative costume that you can curl in.

“You’ve got to find a costume you can wear on the ice and curl in. Everybody’s still wearing their costumes, so I think they did very well this year,” she said.

Teams vote to decide on which team had the best costume, and it was a tough decision this year, with everything from the “Maid in Berwick” team to flappers.

“We’ve even got the royal family here – there’s a team wearing masks of Queen Elizabeth, Camilla, Princess Kate and Prince Charles, they’re wonderful,” Reddy said. “It will be hard to pick. All of the teams spent a lot of time putting together their costumes.”

One team travelled from the Halifax Curling Club to compete, wearing neoncoloured tulle skirts and flowers in their hair.

“They’d emailed me for information after I sent out the flyer, and they said they were worried they were overdressed,” Reddy said. “Then they got here and looked around.”

The event attracted women of all ages. Curlers are getting younger and younger, said Reddy, thanks, in part, to the strong junior curling program at Glooscap. Local elementary schools also visit the club to try curling.

“It’s a great way to keep active – they say you need to get 150 minutes of exercise a week, and let me tell you, this is a good way to do it,” Reddy added. “I’d absolutely encourage anyone to try it – whether you’re a senior or any other age group. It’s fun for people of all ages and it’s a great way for seniors to keep active.”

See a slideshow of photos event at KingsCountyNews.ca

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